Jose and Joseph Tom PulikkunnelThe raging infighting between the Jose and Joseph factions in the Kerala Congress (M), a valuable ally of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, resulted in the party’s official candidate for the upcoming bypoll in Pala losing the party symbol. While Jose is the son of late KC(M) chairman KM Mani, who remained Pala’s only legislator from 1965-2019, Joseph is the party’s working chairman. Both leaders have been engaged in a vicious tussle for the reins of the party after the death of Mani this year.
Earlier this week, Jose Tom Pulikkunnel, a senior KC(M) leader, was chosen as the official UDF candidate for the bypoll, though Joseph was not happy with the choice as the leader was close to Jose. He, however, refused to allow Pulikkunnel to fight on the official party symbol of ‘two-leaves’ as the leadership crisis in the party hung in the courts.
In a bizarre turn of events in Pala on Wednesday, a candidate propped up by Joseph submitted his nomination forms for the bypoll in order to checkmate Jose’s attempts to get the ‘two leaves’ symbol for his candidate. Pulikkunnel had submitted two sets of nomination papers, one as an Independent candidate backed by the UDF and the other as a KC(M) candidate. Joseph made it clear that as soon as Pulikkunel’s nomination as an Independent candidate is accepted, he would withdraw the dummy candidate.
On Thursday, the Returning Officer in Pala dismissed the nomination forms submitted by Pulikkunnel as a candidate of the Kerala Congress (M), accepting instead his submission as an Independent candidate without the ‘two leaves’ symbol. This has come as a huge victory for Joseph who has been defiant on his opposition to Jose as the party’s next leader.
The feud within the KC(M), which wields influence among Christian voters in central Kerala, has been a splitting headache for the UDF which desperately wants to win the Pala bypoll and prove that its sweep in the Lok Sabha elections was no flash in the pan. The Congress, which has been reluctant to interfere in the internal workings of the KC(M), wants both Jose and Joseph to bury the hatchet and work for the victory of the alliance.
On Thursday, Joseph, at an election conference in Pala, sought to downplay the feud saying that there have always been differences within the party and that they would be resolved soon. He also pitched his support for the UDF candidate Pulikkunnel even as he was continuously booed and heckled by supporters of Jose.
Pulikkunnel will go head to head with Mani C Kappan, a nominee of the LDF, and BJP candidate N Hari on September 23. Votes will be counted on September 27.
