The Congress has sought to bridge the Jacobite-Orthodox Church divide that, it fears, could sunder its traditional Christian vote base in the Puthuppally Assembly constituency in the run-up to the byelection on September 5.
It seemed not lost on the Congress that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] candidate, Jaick C. Thomas, belongs to the Jacobite faction that has purportedly tilted Left, given the government’s “empathic stance” in the Church dispute.
United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Chandy Oommen, who belongs to the Orthodox faction, has reached out to both sections of the Church for support.
Nevertheless, the Congress seemed unwilling to unpack the Church dispute, freighted with mistrust and confusion, in the election campaign. Instead, it has leaned heavily on the constituency’s supposedly enduring deference to the late Oommen Chandy to help the party carry the day at the hustings. Consequently, the Congress has pitched the late leader’s family into the campaign’s forefront.
Nevertheless, several Church leaders, most recently Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, signalled that politics, and not sentiment, would dominate the byelection battle.
The Congress has also stepped away from controversies and corruption scandals which it senses might be double-edged.
Instead, the party has sought to reframe the electoral debate around the government’s “failure” to mitigate food inflation, “stalled” development, “self-inflicted” financial crisis, fuel levy and high water and power tariff to turn the electoral tide against the ruling front.
The CPI(M) seemed acutely aware that the Congress required a dominant performance in Puthuppally to convince Kerala’s sceptical electorate that the UDF was truly on the road back to power after being cast out in the cold in two Assembly elections. Hence, it is harping on the “development stasis” in Puthuppally to tap into perceived voters’ exasperation with 53 years of Chandy’s dominance in the constituency and the electorate’s “eagerness for change.”
Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan said “Chandy’s Puthuppally” compared poorly to the neighbouring Pala that the late Kerala Congress (M) leader K.M. Mani nurtured if development was the yardstick.
The CPI(M) seemed to offer an alternative outlet for voter anger by “scapegoating” the Centre for the State’s financial crisis.
Puthuppally also seemed set to witness a new campaign style with Mr. Thomas challenging Mr. Oommen for a U.S. presidential-style townhall debate.
Such a face-off has its risks and rewards. Nevertheless, the Congress seemed wary of picking up the gauntlet.
