When 32-year-old K M Mani first got elected to the Kerala Assembly from the then newly formed Pala constituency, he was kick-starting a new era.
Now, 54 years later, K M Mani still looms over the campaign for the upcoming bypoll in Pala, the first one after his demise.
The past three assembly elections saw a Mani vs Mani fight - between K M Mani and Mani C Kappan. This time also Mani C Kappan is in fray as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate.
The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the ruling LDF have to battle many demons this time.
Factional feuds are peaking in the Kerala Congress (Mani) group with working chairman P J Joseph and Jose K Mani pulling the cart in different directions.
The KC(M) is facing the prospect of another split, after the results are out.
Despite many splits and mergers of his parties, K M Mani was a constant in Pala constituency’s history.
For the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), an LDF ally, the menace of factional feuds are back as the election campaign hit the final lap.
Many members of a faction that backed late NCP leader Uzhavoor Vijayan recently quit the party, putting Mani C Kappan and LDF to trouble.
The LDF and the UDF have to tackle a host of political issues also.
The LDF government's stance to implement Supreme Court’s verdict on Sabarimala allowing entry of women of all ages resulted in its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
A section of the LDF camp is wary about a similar outcome in Pala.
For UDF, the charges against its leaders in the Palarivattom flyover scam has the potential to take a toll on its winning chances.
This, coupled with veteran KC(M) leader P J Joseph’s lack of enthusiasm towards the UDF candidate Jose Tom, who is from the faction led by K M Mani’s son Jose K Mani, is likely to impact the UDF's prospects.
The spirit of Mani
Jose Tom, a K M Mani loyalist, had not been in the fray till a month ago. With his surprise candidature the party has the task of familiarising him with the voters within a short period. So they took the shortcut.
From the moment of his inception as the UDF candidate, Jose Tom has been asking the voters of Pala to give him a chance “to continue the developmental drive K M Mani had been spearheading”. On his chances of winning, he said he had the “blessings of K M Mani”.
The UDF is also flaunting the K M Mani factor.
Opposition leaders including Ramesh Chennithala and former chief minister Oommen Chandy laud Mani for the infrastructural and economic development of the Pala constituency at every opportunity. Jose Tom and his campaigners have been working to keep K M Mani’s legacy alive to improve the UDF's prospects.
The post-Mani era
For LDF candidate Mani C Kappan, it’s a now-or-never situation. Kappan tasted defeat against K M Mani in the three consecutive assembly elections.
Even at a time when K M Mani’s approval rating was at its lowest in the aftermath of the bar bribery allegations, Kappan couldn’t defeat K M Mani. Now, six months after his demise, the LDF is not all focussing on the K M Mani factor in the campaign.
It has rather resorted to stirring up a sense of wariness among the voters about who should be K M Mani’s successor.
It had been urging voters to give Mani C Kappan a chance to allow him to bring a new direction to the developmental activities in Pala.
Furthermore, the LDF camp is keen to keep the voters focused on the factional feud in KC(M) which, they believe, could be a tool to distract voters from the sympathy factor owing to K M Mani's demise benefiting the KC (M).
Either way, K M Mani still remains a decisive factor Pala.
