Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday attempted to end the speculation that he will forsake Puthuppally to contest the Assembly elections from Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram.
Mr. Chandy, who is the head of the election management and strategy committee of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, said the party had not finished candidate selection.
Hence, conjectures regarding candidates and constituencies should stop forthwith. The Congress high command and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee would decide who would contest and from where.
Mr. Chandy said Puthuppally and his life were closely entwined. “There will be no change in that during my lifetime,” he said. Mr. Chandy has represented the Puthuppally constituency since 1970. The Assembly had honoured him recently for completing 50 years as a lawmaker.
O. Rajagopal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the incumbent MLA from Nemom. BJP heavyweight Kummanam Rajasekharan is tipped to fight the Assembly elections from Nemom.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress will also enter the fray with high-profile candidates. A tight three-cornered fight is likely in the constituency.
Speculation
The speculation about Mr. Chandy’s candidature from Nemom followed a statement by his son Chandy Oommen. Mr. Oommen said the Congress should give adequate representation to youngsters. He said merit and not lineage should decide candidature. He has been active in politics since 2000.
Soon, television channels were rife with “guesswork” that Mr. Chandy would yield Puthuppally to his son and contest the Assembly from Nemom. When pressed, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty told a channel in Malappuram that Mr. Chandy was a “brand” that would sell anywhere in Kerala.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullappally Ramachandran told mediapersons that Mr. Chandy could win anywhere from Kerala. He refused to get drawn into theorising that Mr. Chandy would fight from Nemom.
