Kottayam: Jaick C Thomas will contest in Puthuppally in the upcoming assembly bypoll on September 5, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said on Saturday.
The announcement was made after discussions with the Kottayam district secretariat of the party on Saturday morning. The CPM secretariat had approved Jaick's candidature on Friday.
He will file his nomination papers on August 17.
With the confirmation of the candidature, he earns the distinction of competing with both late Congress leader Oommen Chandy and his son Chandy Oommen.
Jaick was the runner-up in the Puthuppally assembly constituency in the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election. He has contested against Oommen Chandy twice.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) had already declared the candidature of Chandy Oommen, son of the late Oommen Chandy who had been the MLA from the constituency continuously for over half a century.
The UDF expects that the upsurge of sentiments following the recent death of Chandy and public discontent against the state government of the LDF would see it through in the constituency.
The Puthuppally byelection, which has been necessitated by the death of legislator and former Kerala Chief Minister Chandy last month, is scheduled for September 5 and the result will be announced on September 8.
