THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Assembly elections fast approaching, senior leader Oommen Chandy will lead the Congress to help it regain its traditional vote bank so that the setback in the local body elections is not repeated. The decision was taken during the meeting between the state Congress leaders and the High Command. Although no one has been nominated as the Chief Ministerial candidate, Oommen Chandy has been tasked with overseeing and formulating the party's election strategies. For this, a 10-member election management Committee will be formed under the chairmanship of Oommen Chandy.

It is learnt that AICC General Secretaries Tariq Anwar and KC Venugopal, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC President Mullappally Ramachandran, K Muraleedharan, VM Sudheeran, K Sudhakaran, Kodikunnil Suresh, Sasi Tharoor and others will be in the committee. The final decision will be announced by the AICC. The various election committees will be announced soon.

The return of Oommen Chandy, who did not take over the leadership of the Opposition in the wake of the UDF's heavy defeat in the 2016 Assembly elections, has sparked strong rumours among Congress leaders and workers. The fact that Oommen Chandy is the most popular leader in the state Congress and the pressure from the constituent parties have favoured Oommen Chandy. The High Command felt that Chandy's presence at the forefront can be crucial in retaining the votes of those who had traditionally sided with the party, including the Christian sects.

Meanwhile, AK Antony, a senior leader who met the media after meetings with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former president Rahul Gandhi, declined to give a clear answer to the question of whether Oommen Chandy would be the chairman of the election campaign committee.