Dinesh Mani backs off

KOCHI: The CPM leadership in Ernakulam is finding it difficult to get a suitable candidate for the prestigious Trippunithura   constituency against Congress candidate and Excise Minister K. Babu  with  Mr C.M. Dinesh Mani,  identified by the party leadership,  declining to contest. Mr. Mani, a former mayor and MLA from Palluruthy,  has reportedly informed the state leadership that he was  unwilling to contest in view of the reservation to his candidature from local leaders.

Mr. Mani, who lost the poll from Trippunithura against Mr. Babu in 2011 by a margin of over 15,000 votes, has decided to withdraw from the contest as the majority of members in a mandalam committee meeting held on Friday expressed reservations about his winning chances.  They  felt that Mr. Mani will not be able to energise party workers loyal to Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan as he had switched loyalty to the official faction.

The decision of Mr. Mani has put the CPM leadership in a piquant situation as it has failed to identify a strong and credible candidate to take on Mr. Babu, one of the accused in the bar bribery scandal-- a major campaign issues to be highlighted by the LDF.

The trouble for the district unit had begun when the state leadership declined to give the green signal to Mr P. Rajeev,  Ernakulam district secretary of the party, to contest against Mr. Babu. Mr. Rajeev, considered as the best option against Mr. Babu, was not given permission on the ground that district secretaries needed to contest polls only in exceptional cases.