Idukki seat a bone of contention for UDF

Thiruvananthapuram: The Idukki Lok Sabha seat may prove to be a bone of contention for the UDF with allies like KC(M) and KC(Jacob) staking a claim for it. In the 2014 elections, Mr Joice George, CPI-supported independent, had defeated Mr Dean Kuriakose of the Con-gress. He lost due to a host of factors, including agitations against the Gadgil report on the conservation of Western Ghats and the wrath of Idukki Bishop Mar Mathew Aanikuzhikattil.

AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy will have a say in the selection of the candidate as Mr Dean is his protege. The KPCC leadership hopes that the allies may not press their claim for the seat.

Another aspirant is Mr Mathew Kuzhalnadan, state president of All- India Professionals Congress. A senior member of the political affairs committee told DC that Mr Dean would be an ideal candidate in Idukki as he is a Catholic, while Mathew is a Jacobite. Thrissur and Idukki have a strong presence of Catholics. Communal combination has to be considered in Idukki, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam seats, he said.

Mr Mathew has already started his campaign on the social media. Recently he brought in All-India Professionals Congress president Shashi Tharoor MP with a scheme, ‘Explore Idukki’ to tap the tourism potential of Idukki following the floods.

A section of the ‘A’ group leaders criticised Mr Mathew saying that certain youth leaders ‘crop up’ to highlight the development of the constituency only when the elections come.

The LDF may field Mr K. Francis George, chairman of Janadhip-athya Kerala Congress, in Idukki. Mr Joice George has faced criticism from the local people for not taking interest in rebuilding the district after the floods. The Congress hopes to cash in on this aspect during the poll campaign.