Kerala Congress chief bats for Chandy's second term as CM

Trivandrum: Even before the outcome of the local body polls is known, the Congress that heads the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala seems to have settled the question regarding the leader who will lead the coalition in the Assembly elections due in May next year.
The lone choice, according to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V M Sudheeran, is incumbent Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. He made the party's stand on the issue clear while talking to a television channel here on Wednesday.
"Though the party will take a final decision on the chief ministership depending upon the political situation prevailing at the time of the election, I have no doubt that Chandy will be the natural choice as the party has gained strength during his current term as chief minister," Sudheeran said.
The party chief said that various developmental and welfare programmes initiated by his government in the last four years have brought people close to the party and added that the party will go to the people for a fresh mandate highlighting these achievements.
Chandy's name for another stint has been under the consideration of the party ever since it won the Aruvikkara by-election. The victory of Congress candidate K S Sabarinathan by over 10, 000 votes was viewed as a major victory for Chandy, who had termed the poll as a referendum on his government.
After winning the assembly election by a wafer thin majority in 2011, the UDF continued its winning streak by winning all the three by-elections since then and bagging 12 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 elections.
This was the second largest contingent of MPs from a state the Congress got in the last election.
Chandy's position will be strengthened if the UDF is able to repeat its 2010 performance in the election to the three-tier local bodies.
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