Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani, who had put in all pressure to get the Pala assembly seat for his close confidant Jose Tom Pulikkunnel, is now pressing the Congress leadership for the presence of Rahul Gandhi during campaigning. While the Congress leadership does not generally get national leaders for campaigning during byelections, Jose had argued that the Congress high command must consider Pala as a special case and get Rahul Gandhi to  campaign during the final stages.
It may be noted that in the 2016 assembly elections, K M Mani won the Pala seat against Mani C Kappan with a margin of 4,703 votes and the KC(M) wants to make sure that the party candidate wins with a record margin this time.Rahul Gandhi had, as AICC president, came to Pala and visited K M Mani’s family after the veteran leader’s passing away and Jose K Mani wants to cash in on the popularity of the Congress party’s national leader and crowd puller to ensure that the party candidate gets maximum votes.
विरोध करना कब से लोकतंत्र और देश विरोधी हो गया?
The Catholic Church is a major factor in Pala byelection and with both Jose Tom Pulikkunnel and Mani C Kappan being Roman Catholics with deep roots in the constituency, the KC(M) will be trying to evoke the memories of late Mani and the bonhomie he had shared with the church.Jose K Mani has always been a regular representative of the Government of India during the beatification and canonisation of saints at the Vatican and with his Delhi contacts, he shares an excellent rapport with the Vatican council in India.