PJ Joseph unsure of impact in Pala after he is abused

KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress (M) leader P.J. Joseph said that he cannot say if the insulting and abusive language used against him when he attended the UDF convention at Pala will have a bearing on bypoll.

“The contest will be tight. Since the LDF candidate is contesting for the fourth time, there is a sympathy wave in his favour,” Joseph told this newspaper.

He said that the stand taken by Vellapally Natesan against the UDF candidate at Pala is presumably a thanksgiving to the LDF government for intervening in his son Thushar Vellapally’s case in United Arab Emirates.  

Recalling the disputes with Jose K. Mani faction over the ‘double leaves’ symbol, Mr Joseph clarified that it was the adamant stand by the opposite faction that led to the imbroglio.

“I was given the letter seeking symbol on the last date late in the afternoon just before the nomination was to be filed. There was no time for me to respond as my signature needs to be on nomination paper. It was a deliberate move to create confusion,” Joseph alleged.      

He and his supporters who were aggrieved over the manner in which he was abused at a UDF convention at Pala were taking an adverse stand of late though the campaigning is in high pitch in Pala. The Joseph faction had in fact decided to campaign separately for the UDF candidate Jose Tom Pulikunnel. This had exposed the fissures in between the two factions.

However, after mediations by the UDF leaders they have mitigated their stand and decided to campaign for the UDF candidate from within the UDF camp.