Thiruvananthapuram, July 21: A day after Kerala’s longest serving legislator Oommen Chandy was interned at his home parish, the weekly high power meeting of the ruling CPI(M) on Friday set the ball rolling for the by-election which is likely be held in around 100 days. Puthupally Assembly constituency has been held by Chandy since 1970 which was his debut election and was its legislator till early Monday morning when he passed away at a Bengaluru hospital .

The last time the CPI(M) was able to win from Puthupally was in 1967 and after that despite fielding young, seasoned, local, ladies and even Congress turncoat and closest aide of Chandy- Cherian Phillip as candidates nothing worked against Chandy. At the high level meeting held here at the CPI(M) state party headquarters, a decision was taken against wasting any time and that they can start the preliminary election work. The official launch of hitting the campaign trail will come soon after the next central committee meeting of the party. RIP Oommen Chandy: Kunchacko Boban Condoles Death of Former Kerala Chief Minister on Instagram.

In 2016 and 2021, Puthupally witnessed a classic David Vs Goliath electoral battle when the CPI(M) fielded then 25-year-old student leader Jaick C.Thomas, who took on Chandy and the latter won as always, but in their next outing, Thomas gave a fright, with Chandy winning with a reduced majority of 9,044 votes. ‘Who Is Oommen Chandy?’ Asks Malayalam Actor Vinayakan on Social Media, Deletes the Video Later – WATCH.

And the CPI(M) is now hoping against hope that this time with Chandy gone, this time they can climb on the mere 9,000 votes margin and in all likelihood, Thomas will be fielded as he hails from the constituency which has a sizeable Christian Jacobite community, who are arch rivals of the Orthodox Church, to which Chandy belonged. Meanwhile, one of the reasons why the CPI(M) took a decision the very next day of the Chandy's funeral is the biggest ever turn out by people across the state to bid goodbye to Chandy.

The (CPI)M has been baffled that if they have to make a mark, they just cannot waste any moment, as in Kerala by-elections, sympathy factor at times can blow away even the strongest candidate and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, just doesn’t want that to happen.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 21, 2023 04:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).