The Kerala Congress (M) faction led by Jose K. Mani on Wednesday scored a crucial victory when its candidate won against the official party candidate in the byelection in the Poovathilappu ward of the Akalakkunnam grama panchayat.
George Thomas, who contested as an Independent candidate of the Jose faction, bagged 320 votes to trounce Bibin Thomas, fielded by the KC(M) faction headed by party working chairman P.J. Joseph, by a margin of 63 votes. Antochan, an Independent candidate backed by the Left Democratic Front, finished a distant third with 29 votes. Ranjith, the BJP candidate, received 15 votes. The byelection on Tuesday, which otherwise would have been a straight fight between the UDF and the LDF, had assumed significance with both the KC(M) factions coming face to face for an electoral encounter.
Official symbol
While the Joseph group candidate contested on the party symbol of the KC(M), two leaves, the Jose group was allotted football as its election symbol.
The Congress, meanwhile, took a neutral stand and stayed away from the election campaigns by both sides.
The victory, according to observers, has come as a major relief to the Jose group, which recently lost the Pala byelection and suffered a few other setbacks in the form of court orders upholding the stay on Mr. Mani’s election as the party chairman.
“The victory in Akalakkunnam, along with that of Blal panchayat in Kasaragod, has shown that the voters stand by us though we were denied the party symbol. This is a major setback to whoever attempting to weaken the UDF,” said Mr. Mani.
The Joseph faction, meanwhile, sought to play down the development and accused the Jose faction of indulging in vote-trading. “While the LDF had received over 200 votes from the ward during the general election, it surprisingly drew just 29 votes this time. The Jose group, which is now all set to join the LDF, purchased the Left votes en masse,” alleged Saji Manjakadambil, Kottayam district president of the KC(M) Joseph group.
