In a major setback to the P.J. Joseph faction of the Kerala Congress (M), the Central Election Commission on Monday allocated the party's election symbol, Two Leaves, to the rival faction led by Jose K. Mani.
In an order passed with a 2: 1 majority, the Commission said that ``the group led by Sh. Jose K. Mani is the Kerala Congress (Mani) and is entitled to use its name and its reserved symbol Two Leaves," for the purposes of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.’’ It further added that Mr.Mani enjoyed majority support, both among the legislative as well as the organizational wing of the Party.
The dispute over the official symbol between the two factions had been pending before the election commission since the by-election in Pala in September last year. The election, necessitated by the death of the Pala legislator and KC(M) chairman K.M.Mani , had caused a split in the party along the factional lines led by Jose K Mani and P.J.Joseph.
During the by-election, Mr.Joseph had refused to allocate the party symbol to Jose Tom Pulikkunnel, a nominee of the Mani group. Following this, Mr. Pulikkunnel had to contest as the UDF independent and was allotted ‘pineapple’ as his election symbol.
Welcoming the order, Mr.Mani attributed the defeat of his candidate in the Pala by-election to the non-allocation of the party symbol and said that he would demand the disqualification of the MLAs belonging to the Joseph faction.
Mr.Joseph, on the other hand, held that he would soon file an appeal against the election commission's decisio
