By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The rival political fronts in Kerala have announced their candidates for Ernakulam district’s Piravam assembly constituency by-election which would be the first acid test for the Oommen Chandy government which came to power in April.
The date of the by-election is yet to be announced to fill the vacancy created by the death of sitting legislator and minister of food and civil supplies T.M. Jacob but his son Anoop Jacob seems set to contest as the Kerala Congress (Jacob) candidate.
T.M. Jacob, 61, died Oct 30 after an illness.
“Yes, Anoop Jacob would certainly be a minister, if he wins from the Piravam seat,” United Democratic Front convenor P.P. Thankachen told reporters at Kochi.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist’s state secretariat meeting held here Monday decided to field M.J. Jacob, 66, in the by-election.
In the 2011 assembly polls, M.J. Jacob lost to T.M. Jacob by a slender margin of 157 votes.
While this would be the third straight contest for M.J. Jacob, it would be the first outing for 34-year-old law graduate Anoop Jacob.
Chandy has already said that the Piravam by-poll should be an evaluation of the performance of his government and also one which would measure the work of the opposition.