BJP candidate by December 5

KOCHI: Having claimed its readiness for a strong fight against the UDF and the LDF in the upcoming Piravom by-election, the BJP is yet to zero in on the candidate.BJP leaders pointed out that the party, which has already kicked off its campaign in the constituency without announcing the candidate, would be finalising the name by December 5. “The state committee of the party is meeting on December 2 and 3. We would be finalising the candidate during the meeting,” state president V Muraleedharan said. State BJP general secretary A N Radhakrishnan said that the candidate would be announced by December 5 after the state committee. When asked if a consensus had been reached on the candidate, he said that many factors including regional aspirations are being considered. On the possibility of a young candidate being chosen, he said that a strong candidate is what the party is looking for. In the last election, M N Madhu bagged 4,324 votes. In the coming election, the BJP is likely to field a suitable candidate to ensure that the party does not fall behind the share of votes secured in the last elections. Both leaders were confident that the it would come up with a strong fight in the constituency. Radhakrishnan  said, “We will make our presence felt in the constituency.”  “Though the candidate has not been announced, the party has started its work in the constituency. The panchayat level meetings ended on Thursday. The booth level conventions would end on November 30,” Muraleedharan said.He also said that the Jayakrishnan Memorial Day meeting, which was to be held at Aluva, has been shifted to Piravom and the meeting would be a launching pad for the party’s election campaign in the constituency. When asked why the announcement of the candidate was getting delayed, as the UDF and the LDF had already announced their candidates, he said, “the date for the election has not yet been declared.” The UDF has named the late T M Jacob’s son Anoop Jacob as its candidate and the LDF has again fielded M J Jacob, who represented Piravom from 2006 to 2011.