Mani C. Kappan to begin poll campaign in Pala soon

Pala sitting MLA, Mani C. Kappan on Saturday said he will contest again from the constituency in the upcoming Assembly elections as a UDF candidate and will soon start campaign activities.

Kappan, who contested the 2021 Assembly elections as an Independent candidate from the Pala constituency, is currently part of the UDF.

Bookings had already been made for wall paintings and related works, which would begin across the constituency shortly, he told media.

Officially, seat-sharing discussions within the UDF are still ongoing.

“We will win with a bigger majority than in the last Assembly election. If Jose K Mani (chairman of Kerala Congress (M)) contests, he will not be accepted by the people,” Mr. Kappan said.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, Mr. Kappan had defeated Mr. Mani by a margin of nearly 15,000 votes.

There are rumours that Mr. Mani may contest from the LDF camp, while the BJP is likely to field Shaun George in Pala this time.

Kappan said that the desired development could not be brought to Pala in the last five years as he was part of the opposition in the Assembly.

“When we were part of the governing front, development works worth around ₹80 crore were carried out in just one-and-a-half years,” he said.

He added that once the UDF comes to power, the development aspirations of Pala would be realised. “All pending works will be completed then,” he said.

Apart from being a politician, Mr. Kappan is also a sportsman, planter, film producer, director and actor.

He began his political career after being elected to the Pala Municipal Council in 2000.

He entered the Kerala Assembly by winning the 2019 by-election from Pala following the demise of Kerala Congress leader K. M. Mani.

Though he was part of the LDF then, Mr. Kappan later shifted to the UDF after the Kerala Congress (M) aligned with the Left Front, and went on to win the Assembly election from Pala again in 2021.