The prospect of a former IAS officer entering the fray signals a strong triangular contest in the Kothamangalam Assembly constituency.
The predominantly farmer-dominated constituency has hitherto been a UDF bastion, except twice when the LDF won. Former Minister T.U. Kuruvilla of the Kerala Congress (M) won the 2011 polls by a margin of 12,222 votes, defeating LDF’s Scaria Thomas.
Former Additional Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu P.C. Cyriac is expected to announce his candidature in a day or two as an Independent with NDA support.
He could then be the sole former civil servant in the fray in the State.
Mr. Cyriac could considerably eat into the vote share of both the fronts, as he was former chairman of the Rubber Board and is now president of Infam, a body of farmers. He contested as Independent from Muvattupuzha in 2006.
In sync with the CPI(M)’s drive in Ernakulam district to promote organic cultivation, 33-year-old DYFI leader Antony John of the LDF began his campaign by planting a mango sapling. A first-timer in the Assembly poll fray, he was chairman of the students’ union of Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam.
Mr. Kuruvilla began his campaign by garlanding a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at PO Junction.
This is the third time he is contesting from Kothamangalam, having won in 2006 under the LDF banner when he was with the Kerala Congress (J).
The fall in price of agricultural produce, especially rubber, and the scaling down of KSRTC services on the Kothamangalam- Ernakulam route are among the much-talked about issues here.
