“We are like a pretty girl in the town. Everyone is interested in us,” K. M. Mani, leader of Kerala Congress (Mani) or KC(M), had said when he walked away from Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala in 2016, ending his decades-long association with the front.
At the time, political observers dismissed Mani. While his own party split, he was seen as a politician whose career had come to an end. Two years down the line, ahead of the upcoming bypolls to Kerala’s Chengannur assembly seat, Mani is the most sought after leader.