Kottayam: The defeat of Jose K Mani in Pala assembly constituency has laid bare the differences between his party, the Kerala Congress (M), and CPM.
KC (M) leader and MP Thomas Chazhikadan fired the first salvo after his party’s high-level committee meeting on Wednesday, saying he was suspecting whether the difference of opinions at the local level within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had affected the campaign in the prestigious constituency.
Chazhikadan’s pointed statement was targeted at the CPM. A V Russel, the CPM district committee secretary, admitted that there had been differences, but they were resolved before the polling. Incidentally, KC(M) had been accusing BJP of trading votes till the other day.
“KC(M) had been with the UDF for the past 40 years. Mani C Kappan was with the LDF for the past 25 years, and it was natural for him to have close relationship with CPM’s local leadership. CPM and KC(M) should examine why Jose Mani could not lead anywhere except Mutholy,” he said.
Who traded votes?
The BJP got 14,000 votes less than its 2016 vote share in the recently concluded Assembly polls, which sparked the allegation that it had traded votes. Jose K Mani, however, lagged behind in Pala municipality and panchayats such as Karoor, Ramapuram, Kozhuvanal and Elikulam, where the LDF had an upper hand in the local body polls.
“It’s true that there was a decrease in BJP’s votes. But we had not traded votes. We will probe the dip in vote share.” Ranjeet Meenabhavan, Chairman, BJP election committee, Pala, said.
Jose K Mani’s rival, Mani C Kappan of the UDF, won 2,398 more votes in Kadanad, a panchayat where CPM and CPI have significant influence. The LDF candidate also trailed in areas where CPM has a say.
Kappan also led in KC(M)-dominated areas such as Pala municipality (1,424), Melukavu (2098), Talappalam (1,480), Meenachil (1,083) and Bharanganam (2,228). But his lead decreased in UDF strongholds.
Jose K Mani could lead only in BJP-ruled Mutholi. In the 2019 Pala by-election, UDF’s Jose Tom Pulikkunnel had led in Karoor, Mutholi and Kozhuvanal panchayats, though he eventually lost to Kappan, who was then the LDF candidate.
Where did the leaked votes go?
CPM had expected Jose K Mani to win Pala by a margin of 18,500 votes. It was estimated that the communist party and KC (M) together had 70,000 votes in Pala. But Kappan had the last laugh when he won the majority of the votes that the CPM had expected. While Jose K Mani won 54,886 votes, Kappan retained the constituency by bagging 69,804 votes.
Incidentally, Kappan won a record number of votes in the history of Pala. The late K M Mani had won 52,838 votes (2001), 46,608 (2006), 61,239 (2011) and 58,884 (2016), Kappan, who won 54,137 votes in 2019 (bypoll necessitated following the demise of K M Mani), bagged a victory margin of 15,667 votes in 2021. Jose Mani, however, could win only 3,232 votes more than Jose Tom.
Blow to KC(M)
Though KC(M) and CPM have a cordial relationship at the State and district levels, there were differences in Pala. Each time a difference cropped up, the district leaderships of both the parties stepped in to resolve the matter.
The differences, however, came into open after CPM and KC(M) members traded blows in the municipal council.
Additionally, Jose K Mani exchanging words with CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran had not gone down well with the latter’s party workers. CPI has considerable influence in Pala. Further, Kappan has been in good terms with several CPM local leaders.
KC(M) Pala constituency committee president Philip Kuzhikulam, meanwhile, said CPM and his party’s workers could not gel well during the campaign due to time constraints.
Jayaraj wants Roshy as minister
Roshy Augustine should be made the minister if KC(M) is offered only one cabinet berth, said N Jayaraj.
The KC(M) leader said Augustine has been with the party since his student days, and stood by the party during crisis situations.
While finalizing the ministers, KC(M) should get equal consideration as received during the sharing of seats, Jayaraj said.
Jayaraj and Augustine are known to be close confidantes of Jose K Mani. Jayaraj retained his Kanjirappally seat while Augustine was re-elected from Idukki.
