Jaick C Thomas, a prominent leader of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), has been declared the Left Democratic Front’s candidate for the upcoming bye-election in Kerala’s Puthuppally Assembly constituency. CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan made the announcement on Saturday, August 12, after extensive discussions with the party’s Kottayam district secretariat. Jaick is expected to file his nomination papers on August 17.

The bye-poll, scheduled to be held on September 5, was necessitated by the demise of Puthuppally legislator and Congress bigwig Oommen Chandy. The former Kerala chief minister had passed away on July 18 in Bengaluru after a prolonged illness. Incidentally, Jaick had contested and lost against Oommen Chandy in the 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections, though he significantly reduced the vote margin between them in 2021.

 Oommen Chandy, fondly referred to as OC, was the MLA from Puthuppally for over five decades, and had maintained the reputation of a ‘people’s leader’ throughout his career. Riding on what is being called an ‘OC wave’ in the constituency, the Congress has fielded his son Chandy Oommen as the party’s candidate. The announcement was made by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal and state president K Sudhakaran on August 8, almost immediately after the Election Commission declared the bye-poll. 

“Puthuppally was represented by Oommen Chandy for the past 53 years. Bearing his memories in mind, we have none but Chandy Oommen to present before Puthuppally," KC Venugopal had said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to declare its candidate in the constituency.