With the demise of Kuttanad MLA Thomas Chandy, Alappuzha district is set to witness the third Assembly bypoll within two years.
In the previous two bypolls, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) won one seat each. While the LDF retained the Chengannur seat, the UDF wrested Aroor from the LDF.
With less than one-and-a-half years to go for the 2021 Assembly election and less than a year for the local body polls, Kuttanad byelection, which will be held in six months, will be a real test for all major fronts in the State.
Candidate selection is likely to be a big headache for both the LDF and the UDF. In the 2016 Assembly polls, LDF candidate Thomas Chandy of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) defeated UDF candidate Jacob Abraham of the Kerala Congress (M) by 4,891 votes.
Factional feud
For the UDF, the candidate selection will be a daunting task given the factional feud in the Kerala Congress (M). With factions led by Jose K. Mani and P.J. Joseph set to lay claim on the seat, the bickering in the party, which started with the Pala bypoll earlier this year, is likely to be repeated in Kuttanad too. With a truce between the warring factions is unlikely any time soon, a section in the Congress has already started demanding to take the seat back from the Kerala Congress (M).
In the LDF, CPI(M) activists are demanding to take the seat back from the NCP. With former Kuttanad MLA K.C. Joseph in its fold, the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, a constituent of the LDF, is also likely to lay claim on the seat. On the other hand, the NCP’s claim on the seat is likely to be weakened as it may be unable to propose a suitable candidate to replace Thomas Chandy, who won the seat thrice in a row.
In 2016, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had given the Kuttanad seat to the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS).
Kuttanad byelection will be the ninth Assembly bypoll in the State since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by Pinarayi Vijayan came to power in 2016.
