Around three months after expressing his intention as his party quit the UDF, Kerala Congress leader Jose K Mani has resigned as Rajya Sabha MP. He has submitted his resignation letter officially to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. He was highly criticised for not resigning from the Rajya Sabha MP post, which he won while his party was a part of Congress-led UDF.
According to reports, he resigned to contest in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections from the Pala constituency. It is likely that the vacant RS seat be given to Kerala Congress following the resignation. Reportedly, Jose K Mani, the son of veteran leader KM Mani, is likely to contest from Pala though Kaduthuruthy too is an option.
LDF believes that the Rajya Sabha by-election will be held along with the Gujarat election. Following favourable directives from the Election Commission of India and High Court, Jose K Mani has officially decided to resign from the post. However, the likely picks for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat after Jose K Mani’s resignation include Congress leaders Stephen George, PK Sajeev, and PT Jose.
Last year, the party had split into two factions led by Jose and PJ Joseph, who choose to remain with the UDF.
