Pala sitting MLA, Mani C. Kappan on Saturday said that he will again contest from the constituency in the upcoming assembly elections as a UDF candidate and will start campaign activities soon.
Kappan, who contested the 2021 assembly elections as an independent candidate from Pala constituency, is currently part of the UDF.
Bookings have already been made for mural painting and related works which will be started soon across the constituency, he told the media.
Officially, discussions about sharing seats within the UDF are still ongoing.
“We will win with a bigger majority than in the last assembly elections. If Jose K Mani (Kerala Congress (M) president) contests, he will not be accepted by the people,” Mr Kappan said.
In the 2021 assembly elections, Mr. Kappan defeated Mr. Mani by a margin of nearly 15,000 votes.
Rumors are rife that Mr. Mani may contest from the LDF camp, while the BJP is likely to field Shaun George in Pala this time.
Kappan said the desired development was not achieved by Pala in the last five years as he was part of the opposition in the assembly.
“When we were part of the ruling front, development work worth around ₹80 crore was done in just one-and-a-half years,” he said.
He added that once the UDF comes to power, the development aspirations of Pala will be realised. “All pending works will then be completed,” 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 City Council in 2000.
He entered the Kerala Assembly by winning the 2019 by-election from Pala following the resignation of Kerala Congress leader KM Mani.
Although he was part of the LDF then, Mr. Kappan later switched to the UDF after the Kerala Congress (M) merged with the Left Front and won the 2021 parliamentary elections again from Pala.
Published – 07 Feb 2026 21:17 IST