Jaick C.Thomas, the candidate fielded by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) for the upcoming by-election at Puthuppally, filed his nomination papers on Wednesday.
Accompanied by an LDF delegation, Mr. Thomas submitted the nomination to the returning officer and Kottayam Revenue Divisional Officer Vinod Raj. CPI(M) district secretary A.V. Russell, CPI district secretary V.B. Binu, Kerala Congress(M) district president Lopez Mathew, and NCP State organisation general secretary K.R. Rajan were also part of the delegation.
According to an affidavit filed by the candidate, he owned a cumulative asset of ₹2.07 crore that includes movable assets worth ₹1,08,356 and immovable assets worth around ₹2.06 crore. His wife, Geethu Thomas, owns 100 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹5.55 lakh.
As per the declaration, the candidate has ₹4,000 cash in hand, besides a bank deposit of ₹1.07 lakh in a joint account with his mother. The immovable assets against his name include one-third of a 1.06-acre agricultural land in Veloor village, 47 cents in Manarcad village, commercial buildings in the name of his father in Kottayam municipality and in Manarcadu village, besides a residential building.
He has an outstanding liability of ₹7,11,905 lakh, which comprise a loan of ₹2,45,000 from Thiruvanchoor cooperative branch and ₹4,66,905 from KSFE, Manarcad branch.
Later in the day, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan inaugurated an election convention of the LDF at Manarcad. LDF convener E.P. Jayarajan, Minister V.N. Vasavan, and State committee member K. Anilkumar, were among those who attended the convention.
UDF candidate Chandy Oommen and NDA candidate G. Lijin Lal are slated to file their nominations on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan said here on Wednesday that the election campaign of the UDF in Puthuppally would focus on serious politics. “As many as six major scandals have surfaced against the LDF government, including the kickback scam against the Chief Minister. The UDF intends to communicate all these with the electorate,” he said.
