Kerala Congress(J)'s Francis George vs LDF's Thomas Chazhikadan in Kottayam

Kottayam: The Kerala Congress (J), an ally of the opposition UDF, on Saturday announced former parliamentarian K Francis George as its candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Kottayam constituency.

KC (J) Chairman P J Joseph made an official announcement regarding this during a function held at the party office here.

This was the second candidature being announced in the southern state in connection with the general election, the date of which is yet to be announced.

The 68-year-old George had earlier represented Idukki in the Lok Sabha for 10 years.

After he was named as the candidate, the two-time former MP said his objective is to reclaim the Kottayam seat for the UDF.

Early this week, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) partner Kerala Congress (M) had named sitting MP Thomas Chazhikadan, as the candidate here.

Chazhikadan had won the Kottayam seat last time by defeating CPI(M)'s V N Vasavan, who is a state minister in the ruling Left government, with a victory margin of over one lakh votes.