The Congress surge to field a “surprise” candidate from Kochi Corporation’s Ravipuram division turned out to be somewhat underwhelming after the party declared Antony Judy, who had contested on a Twenty20 ticket from Ernakulam in last year’s general elections, as its candidate.
He garnered nearly 40,000 votes and finished fourth in the contest, which was won by Congressman Hibi Eden with a mammoth 2.50 million votes. Mr. Judy is a lawyer by profession and a resident of Ravipuram division.
While the Congress has declared its candidates for 62 of the 64 divisions in the Corporation, candidates for two seats – Cheralaya and Ravipuram – have been left unannounced, with the party claiming a “surprise” is in store. The candidate for Cheralayai division, where the party is trying to woo disaffected six-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councilor Shyamal S. Prabhu, is not yet known.
There were reports that the party held consultations with Soumini Jain for the Ravipuram division, from which she won as the Congress candidate and became the mayor for 2015–2020. However, it has now emerged that while the district leadership inquired about her willingness to contest, no talks have taken place and no assurances have been given about her potential role if the United Democratic Front (UDF) is elected to power. After serving as mayor, it was clear that Ms Jain would not be willing to remain just a councillor, and she reportedly told the party as much.
With the Left Democratic Front (LDF) fielding sitting councilor S Sasikala, a formidable candidate, the UDF needed a heavyweight to put up a tough fight. Interestingly, Malini Kurup, a three-time councilor who was rejected by the party to contest from her Girinagar seat, is a resident of Ravipuram. She is now contesting from Girinagar as an independent with possible CPI support. “I never asked for the Ravipuram seat. In fact, I even told the party leadership that Soumini Jain could be fielded from this division if she was willing to contest,” said Ms. Kurup, who also accused the leadership of not maintaining community balance in allocating seats as it fielded only four Nair candidates in 76 divisions.
Meanwhile, the scourge of rebel candidates that has plagued the Congress over the years seems to have reared its head once again in the corporation. After Santha Vijayan, the sitting councilor from Devankulangara ward defected to the BJP and has since been expelled from the Congress, and Ms. Kurup, KR Premkumar, a former Congress councilor and deputy mayor for a short period from 2015-20, also threatened to fight as an independent communist from Konam division, which the UDF had allotted to the Marxist Party.
Sitting Karuvelippada councilor Bastin Babu may also throw his hat in the ring after being dropped. He reportedly took a six-month sabbatical from the party and publicly announced his decision to vacate the seat for the youth on social media before expressing his interest in contesting from the neighboring Chullikkal division, by which time another candidate was already in the fray. Joseph Alex, who represented Mamangalam division in 2015, is also unhappy after being overlooked as the candidate from Palarivattom general ward, which the party allotted to long-serving councilor VK Minimol. Mr. Alex lost in 2020 in Karanakkodam division.
Published – 15 Nov 2025 20:45 IST
