Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction releases candidate list for Assembly polls; party chief to contest from Thodupuzha

The PJ Joseph faction of the Kerala Congress on Saturday announced the list of candidates for 10 seats it has been alloted as part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front. While party supremo PJ Joseph will be contesting the polls from the Thodupuzha constituency, the party has fielded MP Joseph, the son-in-law of former minister and Kerala Congress supremo, KM Mani, is contesting from the Trikaripur constituency, PTI reported. Senior leaders Advocate Monce Joseph, K Francis George and Thomas Unniyadan are contesting from Kaduthuruthy, Idukki and Irinjalakuda constituencies, respectively. The party has also fielded VT Thomas from Thiruvalla instead of Joseph M Puthussery, which may lead to protests, reported Asianetnews.com. Other surprise names in the Kerala Congress (Joseph) list include Vijay Lali from Changanassery and Prince Lucas from Ettumanoor. The UDF leaders had Friday announced that as per the seat-sharing agreement, 10 seats have been allocated for the Joseph faction of Kerala Congress. Here’s the full list of candidates:

| Constituency Name | Candidate’s Name

Advocate Monce Joseph

| | Idukki |

K Francis George

| | Irinjalakuda |

Thomas Unniyadan

| | Thodupuzha | PJ Joseph | | Trikaripur | MP Joseph | | Kothamangalam |

Shibu Thekkumpuram

| | Kuttanad | Jacob Abraham | | Changanassery | Vijay Lali | | Ettumanoor | Prince Lucas | | Thiruvalla | Victor T Thomas |

Kerala Congress (M) had last year severed its three-decade-old ties with the opposition UDF and joined the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), however, a faction led by senior leader Joseph remained with the UDF. A legal battle following the split resulted in the Election Commission allotting the official ‘Two Leaves’ symbol to Kerala Congress (M) faction led by Jose K Mani, who joined the LDF. With inputs from PTI