Kerala Congress (M) announces 12 candidates, Jose K Mani to contest from Pala
Jose K Mani set for high-stakes three-cornered fight against UDF’s sitting MLA Mani C Kappan and BJP’s Shaun George; LDF ally retains all sitting MLAs for April 9 election
Kottayam (Kerala), Mar 16 (PTI) Ending all the uncertainty, Kerala Congress (Mani) on Monday announced that party chairman Jose K Mani will contest the election from the Pala constituency here.
Kerala Congress (M), an ally of the LDF, announced candidates for 12 seats in the upcoming April 9 election.
Mani, a Rajya Sabha MP, will take on UDF leader and sitting MLA Mani C Kappan and BJP leader Shaun George, making it an exciting contest.
Apart from this, Kerala Congress (M) has retained all its MLAs, including minister Roshy Augustine in Idukki, N Jayaraj in Kanjirappally, Job Michael in Changanassery, Sebastian Kulathunkal in Poonjar and Pramod Narayan in Ranni.
The surprise in the list is Biju Chirayath, a Congress councillor, who will contest for the LDF ally in Chalakudy.
Chirayath resigned from the Congress on Monday, hours before the announcement of candidates.
Other candidates include Cyriac Chazhikadan in Thodupuzha, Sabu K Jacob in Piravom, Mathew Kunnapilly in Irikkur, Nirmala Jimmy in Kaduthuruthy and Basil Paul in Perumbavoor.
Mani had tasted defeat when he contested against Kappan in the 2021 Assembly election.
His candidature is considered crucial for the party, which suffered a heavy setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the 2025 local body elections. PTI