After weeks of mourning the death of senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, the Puthuppally Assembly constituency on Tuesday found itself abruptly running up to the byelection on September 5.
According to a press note issued by the Election Commission of India, the election notification will be issued on August 10 and the last date for filing nominations is August 17.
With less than ten days left for filing nominations, the notification sent the leading coalitions in a tizzy. A seat represented by Oommen Chandy for over five decades, Puthupally is one of the few seats in central Travancore that witnesses a direct electoral clash between the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Hours after the notification came, the Congress declared Chandy Oommen, son of the late leader, as its candidate. Serving as chairman of the National Outreach Cell of the Indian Youth Congress, Mr. Oommen maintains ties with the Congress national leadership and was a full-time member of the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi a few months ago.
Even before the election was announced, there was broad consensus within the party that he would be the ideal candidate to inherit the political legacy of his father.
The CPI(M), on the other hand, is learnt to be considering a few names, including State committee member Jaick C. Thomas and district committee member Reji Zachariah. Among these, Mr. Thomas is regarded as the frontrunner as he had put up a stiff competition to the late leader in the previous Assembly elections, bringing down the margin of loss to 9,044 in 2021 from 27,092 in 2016.
A Congress worker erecting a flex board of Chandy Oommen at Puthuppally on Tuesday night.
Speculation is also rife about the CPI(M) looking to field an independent candidate as it did during the Thrikkakara by-election. The party is expected to make the announcement after a meeting of the State committee on August 11.
The Bharatiya Janata Party too has a couple of names under active consideration, including that of N.Hari, president of the party’s central zone committee.
While the Congress will look to ride the sympathy wave triggered by the death of Chandy, it has failed to unsettle the CPI(M) a wee bit. Instead, it will count on a strong presence at the grassroots — as many as six of the eight panchayats in the constituency are ruled by the LDF— to breach the fort.
Chandy Oommen, who will contest as UDF candidate in the Puthupally byelection, paying tributes at the burial site of his father, Oommen Chandy, on Tuesday evening
The BJP, meanwhile, is expected to pick the welfare and development programmes initiated by the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre and the myth controversy as the central pillars of its campaign.
The Congress has already launched pre-election works by entrusting senior leaders K.C. Joseph and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan the charge of two party block committees within the constituency.
The CPI(M), which boasts a battle-ready party framework, is expected to organise electioneering directly under the supervision of its State committee while the BJP too has kicked off its electioneering works with booth visits.
“That the election will be held in less than a month means tough manual work for the parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year. For the Congress and the CPI(M), the stakes will be much higher as the election also marks a chance to test the claims over the legacy set by Oommen Chandy,” pointed out a senior Congress leader.
The scrutiny of nominations will be held on August 18 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is August 21. Counting of votes will take place on September 8. The press note said electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) would be used in all the polling stations.
The model code of conduct has come into effect, the release added.
