Kochi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Twenty20 have decided not to contest the Thrikkakara assembly bypoll to be held on May 31.
Thus a three-cornered contest is set to take place in this urban constituency bordering parts of Kochi city.
The Congress, CPM and BJP have already announced their candidates.
The AAP's decision to not contest the Thrikkakara seat was confirmed by the party's Kerala unit convenor PC Cyriac here.
As a policy, AAP never contests bypolls as securing one or two seats is not enough to influence the government anywhere, the AAP state leader explained the rationale to keep off the Thrikkakara contest.
The party's strategy is to focus on building its network in Kerala rather than losing it in an inconsequential bypoll, Cyriac stated.
The party is paving the road for the next General Election, the leader said. The next Lok Sabha poll is due in 2024 summer.
The party will also seek the mandate in the civic polls too, Cyriac said. The recent opinion polls taken in the state were in favour of AAP, he pointed out.
Shortly after AAP's statement, Twenty20 chief coordinator Sabu M Jacob too announced his party's decision.
"Twenty20 decided to not contest the Thrikkakara seat because of the political insignificance of this bypoll," Jacob said.
The decision has been taken after consulting the Aam Aadmi Party, Sabu added.
The news comes days after reports emerged that the AAP and local political outfit Twenty20 is looking to form an alliance to back a common candidate in the Thrikkakara seat.
After AAP's conquests in Punjab, a foothold in Kerala was assumed to be the next logical step for the party as it looks to build itself as a worthy contender on the national stage.
However, to the many who were looking for a four-way battle in Thrikkakara, news of AAP and Twenty20's non-commital comes as a big disappointment.
Cyriac said the party's national leadership will decide on the alliance with Twenty20 soon.
AAP, which is the ruling party in the Union Territory of Delhi and Punjab will, however, be very much in the fray for the next Lok Sabha election as well as the elections to the local bodies and the state legislative assembly next time, Cyriac added.
Earlier, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) announced Uma Thomas, the wife of late MLA PT Thomas as its candidate for the Thrikkakara polls while rivals Left Democratic Front announced eminent cardiologist Dr Jo Joseph as their candidate.
On Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party announced AN Radhakrishnan as its candidate for Thrikkakara.
As per the current standings of parties in the House, the ruling LDF is just one short of the 100-mark in the 140-member House, with the opposition UDF trailing far behind with 40 seats.
The last date for filing nominations is May 11. Thrikkakara goes to polls on May 31.