The choice of the Kerala Congress (M) for the Rajya Sabha poll appears to be narrowing down to Jose K. Mani, Lok Sabha member from Kottayam.
A meeting of the KC(M) Legislature Party is still in progress at Pala, but signals emanating from the meet point to Mr. Jose K. Mani. Earlier, at the meeting, opinion was unanimous that party chairman K.M. Mani himself should contest. However, Mr. Mani refused and said he preferred ‘someone with Kerala Congress heritage’ as candidate resulting in speculation that someone from outside party circles was in the fray.
Strong opposition to comment
This comment elicited strong opposition from a section of the members including working chairman P. J. Joseph and deputy chairman C.F. Thomas who made it clear that in case Mr. Mani or his son Jose K. Mani were not in the fray, opportunity should go to other senior party leaders.
Moreover, the attempt on the part of Mr. Mani to simplify the selection process by ‘making the announcement of the name’ to the media was opposed in the meeting as the senior leaders wanted discussion before arriving at a consensus candidate. It was against this backdrop that the meeting was held at Pala.