In a swift political move, Kerala Congress faction leaders P.J. Joseph and Mons Joseph, both sitting MLAs, resigned from the post ahead of the April 6 elections to the Assembly.
The resignation letters were received in the office of the Speaker by Friday afternoon, official sources told The Hindu. Mr. Joseph represents the Thodupuzha Assembly constituency in Idukki district and Mr. Mons, the Kaduthuruthy constituency in Kottayam district.
The resignation, hours before the deadline for filing of nominations for the Assembly elections, is to avoid a possible rejection of the nomination during scrutiny and disqualification as the faction led by Mr. Joseph had merged with the Kerala Congress (KC) faction led by P.C. Thomas on Wednesday.
Both the leaders had won the 2016 elections as Kerala Congress (M) candidates under ‘Two Leaves’ symbol.
The Joseph faction faced the prospect of contesting the elections as Independents after the upreme Court had dismissed their claim over 'Two Leaves' symbol after it parted ways with Kerala Congress (M) led by Jose K. Mani. The Election Commission had recognised the Jose K. Mani faction as the official Kerala Congress (M) and allotted the party symbol to it.
Mr. Joseph overcame the crisis by merging with the KC led by P.C. Thomas.
Ten candidates of Joseph faction, contesting as UDF candidates, filed their nominations before the Returning Officers 30 minutes before the deadline for submitting nominations. All candidates have applied for a common symbol.
