Congress Working Committee member A.K. Antony will inaugurate the Aruvikkara by-election convention of United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate K.S. Sabarinath at Aryanad V.K. Auditorium on Saturday.
The meeting will be presided over by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran and attended by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty, Finance Minister K.M. Mani, United Democratic Front (UDF) convener P.P. Thankachan, and other leaders.
Panels formed
The KPCC has constituted nine special panels headed by its general secretaries to oversee the party’s election campaign in the nine panchayats coming under the Aruvikkara Assembly constituency, which is witnessing a multi-cornered fight in the June 27 by-election.
The special panels, with three members each, including legislators, will coordinate the campaign in their respective areas.
Taking no chances
The formation of the panels signify that the Congress party does not want to leave anything to chance in its attempts to retain the seat in the by-election which could be a game changer for the Congress and the UDF.
The contest has already become multi-cornered with the entry of unexpected contestants. The fact that the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s campaign will be supervised by none other than former State unit secretary Pinarayi Vijayan appears to have weighed with the KPCC leadership.
