Kottayam: Sitting MP, Thomas Chazhikadan will contest from the Kottayam constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The announcement was made by Kerala Congress (M) chief, Jose K Mani, here on Monday.

Chazhikadan becomes the first candidate to be officially announced by a major party in Kerala for the General Elections.

The leadership of Kerala Congress (M) had convened an emergency meeting to declare its candidate. However, the candidacy of Chazhikadan (71) as the LDF candidate from Kottayam was expected.

It is understood that Kottayam will witness a clash between Kerala Congress rivals with the UDF expected to announce a candidate from the Kerala Congress Joseph faction. Francis George and Prince Lukose are the frontrunners for the LDF seat. However, there are also rumours that the Congress might stake a claim for the Kottayam seat.

In the 2019 general election, Chazhikadan had won from Kottayam with a majority of over one lakh votes after defeating CPM's V N Vasavan.