Jose Mani named KC (M)'s Rajya Sabha election candidate

The Kerala Congress (M) has named Jose K. Mani as their Rajya Sabha election candidate.

The decision to elect Jose was taken during a legislative meeting of the KC (M) held on Friday evening in Kottayam.

Son of party chairman and veteran politician K.M. Mani, Jose will replace the party's sitting member Joy Abraham, reports said.

The party had reportedly fielded K.M Mani as the candidate, before naming Jose, who is a member of the Lok Sabha from Kottayam.

In 2004, Jose was defeated in the parliament election by Kerala Congress' P C Thomas in Muvattupuzha constituency. In 2007, he was elected general secretary of the Kerala Congress, and won the 2009 Lok Sabha election from the Kottayam constituency by a margin of more than 70,000 votes over Suresh Kurup of Communist Party of India (Marxist)

In 2014, Jose was once again elected from Kottayam with a winning margin of 120,599 over Janata Dal (Secular)'s Mathew T. Thomas.

The 53-year-old is a member of the Lok Sabha Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, and also serves as the chairman of the Centre for Reform and Research, a youth empowerment society.