Puthuppally Bypolls: Will Emotion Sway Voters in Chandy Oommen's Favour?

The Congress, the CPI(M), and the BJP are fighting it out on Tuesday to wrest control of Oommen Chandy's bastion.

The Congress, the CPI(M), and the BJP are fighting it out on Tuesday, 5 September, to wrest control of what has been Oommen Chandy's bastion for over half a century.

(Photo: The Quint)

Over a month after the demise of Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy – which left a deep void in Kottayam's Puthuppally constituency – the Congress, the CPI(M), and the BJP are fighting it out on Tuesday, 5 September, to wrest control of what has been his bastion for over half a century.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) hopes to tug at the heartstrings of voters by fielding his son, Chandy Oommen, in the bypoll on Tuesday.

Ruling CPI(M)'s youth leader Jaick C Thomas, who has faced Oomen Chandy twice in the past, has thrown his hat in the ring again, while the BJP is fielding its Kottayam district president G Lijin Lal.

Chandy, one of the most celebrated leaders of Kerala, represented the Puthuppally constituency for a record 53 years in the Kerala State Assembly – from 1970, till he breathed his last at age 79 on 18 July this year.

So for the Congress, 37-year-old Chandy Oommen is the obvious choice for a candidate because of his father's popularity. But will a sympathy wave bring easy victory to Oommen?

Who Is Chandy Oommen?

Chandy Oommen has been working with the Congress at an organisational level since his college days. A lawyer by profession, he is currently the chairman of the Indian Youth Congress' national outreach cell as well as a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Oommen studied at Mar Ivanios College in Thiruvananthapuram before moving to Delhi for his under-graduation at St Stephen's College.

He has both an LLB and an LLM degree in criminology, and has also done a summer course at the London School of Economics.

Oommen's involvement in politics took a significant turn when he became an active participant in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which he walked barefoot. However, his father's illness compelled him to take time off from the march.

After his return, Oommen was constantly seen by his father's side during the latter's prolonged illness.

Chandy Oommen at Bharat Jodo Yatra.

(Photo: Facebook)

Being Junior Chandy

The demise of Oommen Chandy touched people from all walks of life – with hundreds of thousands gathering along the entire 150-kilometre stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Puthuppally, during his funeral procession.

The procession took over 28 hours to cover a distance that usually takes about three hours.

Even weeks after his death, his grave at the St George's Orthodox Church in Puthupally resembled a pilgrimage spot, with people from across the state coming in one after the other to pay their respects.

Whether he was the CM or the leader of the opposition, Chandy was known to be a 'jananayakan' (a leader of the people). He was loved for his humility and rootedness – qualities his son appears to have inherited.

And it is this father-son connection that the Congress is banking on in Puthuppally. In fact, Oommen's nomination was announced on 8 August, merely hours after the Election Commission set 5 September as the date for bypolls in seven constituencies across the country.

Announcing his candidature on social media, the Congress wrote on Facebook:

"Let the goodness continue. Now there is Chandy Oommen to guard Puthuppally."

Oommen has two sisters, Achu Oommen and Maria Oommen. While there were rumours of political differences within the family, these were put to rest after Achu announced that she had no interest in entering politics and would support her brother.

Where Will Christian Votes Go?

Oommen Chandy's popularity may have been unmatched, but his victory margin in the Kerala Assembly elections in 2021 had significantly reduced, with CPI(M)'s Jaick C Thomas putting up a good fight.

Chandy won by a margin of 9,000 votes, but in the 2016 Assembly polls, he had defeated Thomas by a margin of 27,000 votes.

Christian votes play a decisive role in the Puthuppally constituency, but there are fault lines within the community. While the Orthodox sect – which the Chandy family belongs to – is dominant in three panchayats, Catholics dominate in two and Jacobites in one.

Of the eight panchayats under Puthuppally, six are ruled by the Left Democratic Front, led by the CPI(M).

The LDF's performance in the 2021 elections was also due to these divisions. The Kerala Congress (Mani), which split from the Congress-led UDF and aligned with the LDF in 2020, may have also contributed to this shift.

The split may have resulted in the LDF's increased vote share, making the UDF bastion appear a little more uncertain.

CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan had said the party would contest the Puthuppally bypoll like any other election. And that was evident in the way the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, had campaigned for the party in the constituency.

"We will expose the Congress-led Opposition's negative approach towards development. Their approach is that no developmental project would be allowed in Kerala. People have got an opportunity to vote against the negative approach of the Congress. Our organisational system is already in election mode in Puthuppally."

MV Govindan, as per The Indian Express

Meanwhile, the BJP, which has little to no presence in the seat, is banking on the party's central schemes and national leadership to move voters in Puthuppally.

Anil Antony, who recently defected to the BJP, was one of the many leaders to campaign for Lijin Lal. He is the son of veteran Congress leader and a long-time friend of Chandy, AK Antony.