Former minister and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader Shibu Baby John will contest from Chavara as the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate in the upcoming bypolls.
“His candidature was approved by the party central committee held on Saturday and we have handed over a letter nominating him to the UDF chairman and convener,” said RSP State secretary A.A. Azeez in a statement.
Though Chavara had been an RSP stronghold, the party lost the constituency in the last Assembly elections when CPI(M) leader N. Vijayan Pillai defeated Shibu Baby John by a margin of 6,189 votes. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Vijayan Pillai in March 2020. At present, the RSP has no representation in the Assembly and the election will be crucial for both the fronts.
While the LDF is yet to declare its candidate, a couple of names, including the son of the late Vijayan Pillai is under consideration, according to sources. Chavara constituency, that consists of the seven divisions from Kollam Corporation and five panchayats, has favoured both the fronts in previous elections.
According to Kollam DCC president Bindu Krishna, there has been no confusion over the candidature of Shibu Baby John and the UDF will soon make the official announcement.
“We are confident and hopeful since we have a strong vote bank at Chavara and Mr. Shibu is a very popular leader there. The socio-political situation in the constituency is favourable to the UDF unlike the previous Assembly election. Moreover, the voters’ trust reflected in the Parliament election results is also a morale booster for us,” she said. The UDF is expected to start the campaign from Sunday after the district UDF committee meeting.
