The lineup of candidates for the Chengannur Assembly byelection is almost ready with the Congress and the CPI(M) announcing the names of their candidates.
While the Congress picked D. Vijayakumar, the CPI(M) chose Alappuzha district secretary Saji Cherian.
The BJP is yet to formally announce its candidate but the party State leadership has made it clear that it has chosen former party State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai to take on the UDF and the LDF in the constituency. Mr. Pillai has already started active campaigning in the constituency.
Mr. Cherian’s candidature was announced by CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at Chengannur on Monday. Hailing from Chengannur, Mr. Cherian, 53, has been serving as CPI(M) district secretary since 2015.
He had stepped into politics through the Students Federation of India (SFI) in the late 1970s. He was elected to the district panchayat from the Mulakuzha division with a majority of 6,500 votes in 1995 and became chairman of the development standing committee in the local body. He fought the 2006 Assembly election from Chengannur but lost to P.C. Vishnunath of the Congress.
Mr. Vijayakumar has been waiting in the wings for a nomination for a long time. Known to have links with the Nair Service Society, Mr Vijayakumar, 65, began his political career through student politics and had held several positions during his long career.
Mr. Vijayakumar will find himself on a difficult turf since coalition politics as was played out in the last few decades is currently on a spin.
The Kerala Congress (M), a steadfast ally till recently in the thrifty Central Travancore constituencies, is no more with the Congress.
The party’s leader K.M. Mani has not yet exposed his line till date and one will have to read a lot into his recent hobnobbing with the CPI(M). The BJP’s performance in 2016, coming a close third, is something the Congress campaign managers will have to account for this time.
