The Chengannur Assembly constituency in the district is slowly slipping into an election mode.
The BJP has almost finalised the name of P.S. Sreedharan Pillai as the NDA candidate for the byelection. According to sources, State officer-bearers of the BJP, who met at Chengannur on Thursday, overwhelmingly endorsed his name.
Sources said a meeting of the election committee would be convened soon. “Mr. Pillai is going to be the NDA candidate at Chengannur. The State committee will handover the candidate list with his name to the BJP national leadership. His candidature will be announced after the due process,” said a source.
The meeting also discussed the strategy for the bypoll and observed that the party’s organisational structure was weak in several parts of Chengannur. The party is also facing strong resentment from its allies, especially from the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), who alleged the BJP of taking decisions in a unilateral manner.
Mr. Pillai, former BJP State president, had put up a tough fight in the 2016 election from Chengannur. He came third by garnering a total of 42,682 votes.
Speaking to reporters, BJP State general secretary K. Surendran said the Chengannur bypoll would be the beginning of a major change in the State. “It is going to be a verdict against the misrule in the State,” Mr. Surendran said.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan attended a meeting of the party district committee here on Thursday. Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Mr. Kodiyeri said the LDF was ready to face the bypoll.
“We are going to face the election with full confidence. Our candidate will be announced by the CPI(M) State committee after the declaration of the election dates,” Mr. Balakrishnan said.
Sources said the names of CPI(M) district secretary Saji Cherian and former MP C.S. Sujatha were under consideration. Minister G. Sudhakaran, M.V. Govindan and others attended the meeting.
