Kottayam: Congress stalwart and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy recorded his 12th straight win from his home turf, Puthuppally assembly constituency, in 2021.
However, the huge drop in his victory margin – from 27,092 votes in 2016 to 9,044 in 2021 – came as a shocker to the party, though lesser in intensity compared to the drubbing it suffered across the state. The LDF retained power by securing 99 of the 140 seats in the Assembly in the 2021 polls.
The dent in Oommen Chandy’s support base, effected by CPM youngster Jaick C Thomas in his second contest against the Congress veteran, created an impression that the Puthuppally wall was no longer a fortress.
It looked like the CPM machinery, coupled with its social engineering tactics, could win even Puthuppally, which elected its last CPM MLA over half a century ago, sooner than later.
When Oommen Chandy’s son Chandy Oommen contests the Puthuppally bypoll against Jaick, amid a perceived sympathy wave triggered by the former’s death, the Congress cannot just manage a victory, but has to fix the vote leakage in 2021 to win back the lost perception points.
The opposition party is forming its election strategy in Puthuppally keeping in mind the 2021 scenario where several reasons, including Oommen Chandy’s ill-health, hostile attitude of a section of the Jacobite Church and aggressive electioneering by the Left front, played spoilsport for it.
Top Congress leadership in the state is overseeing the party’s campaigning in Puthuppally, unlike in the past when Oommen Chandy himself managed the polls, and won each time. Opposition Leader V D Satheesan is mostly camping in the constituency and leading the campaign just like he did during the Thrikkakara bypoll necessitated following the death of P T Thomas.
Satheesan said the Congress-led United Democratic Front has been able to make it a political fight in Puthuppally, challenging the LDF’s allegation that the former was depending on mere sympathy wave.
“Of course we are fighting this bypoll amid the memories of Oommen Chandy. Along with that we have made it a political fight raising six corruption allegations against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government," Satheesan told Onmanorama.
"We are questioning the chief minister’s silence over the allegations, including those relating to illegal payments made to his daughter. The other issues we highlight during the campaign include rampant price rise at the face of Onam festival, the collapse of the Supplyco system, crisis in KSRTC, hike in taxes including fuel cess, fall of higher education system and health sector.
“We consider this bypoll as a public trial of the government,” he said.
Ahead of the bypoll announcement, the Congress managed to refurbish its 182 booths in the constituency, Satheesan said. “It helped us to be equipped to face the bypoll though it came at a short notice,” he said. The party has completed one round of door-to-door campaign, called squad work in electioneering parlance, and three more are scheduled. Every squad campaign is followed up by a review meeting. The charge of each booth – the smallest party unit in Congress structure – is given to a leader from outside the constituency.
The LDF’s biggest poll plank in Puthuppally is that Oommen Chandy failed to ensure the infrastructure development of the constituency even after representing the segment for 53 years. To counter this, the UDF has issued a 16-page booklet detailing the development projects brought to Puthuppally by Oommen Chandy.
The UDF will be bringing all of its top leaders to Puthuppally in the coming days. Shashi Tharoor is likely to attend a road show in the constituency.
The bypoll will take place on September 5 and the winner will be declared on September 8.
