Joseph group in a group

With an order by the Supreme Court upholding an Election Commission order of the Kerala High Court, Jose K. Allocating the title and election symbol of the Kerala Congress (M) to the Mani-led faction, falls under the rival group led by PJ Joseph. Immense pressure before the upcoming assembly elections.

According to sources, the Joseph group has now become a group of politicians without valid registration by the Election Commission of India and this, in turn, will force the candidates fielded by it to contest as independents under various election symbols.

“Its candidates will not be able to submit nominations with support from the party and, therefore, are not entitled to the same election symbol. The group can now request the support of any small organization to claim for a similar symbol, but it is a risky option, ”he said.

Despite the setback however, the faction is confident of resolving the issue in a few days, though a plan of action is yet to be revealed. A senior leader of the Joseph faction said, “As far as the UDF is concerned, we will not face any trouble as we have taken steps to ensure the same symbol for all our 10 candidates.”

Meanwhile, none of the ten candidates fielded by the Joseph Group have submitted their papers as they are apparently waiting for the crisis to be resolved.

During the local body elections last year, the candidates fielded by the party contested under the election symbol of ‘Drum’.

As the Kerala High Court had earlier stayed the Election Commission order in favor of Mr Mani in November 2020, the State Election Commission allotted special symbols for both factions in local body elections. But after the High Court later quashed the postponement, the SEC re-issued the name and reserved insignia of KC (M) to the faction led by Mr Mani.

Possessed of ‘two cards’, the party symbol which has an emotional connect with the voters of central Travancore, assumes significance as there is a direct confrontation between the Mani and Joseph groups over four seats in the assembly elections.