‘Celebrity candidate’ makes way for local leader in Kallai

The Congress has settled for a “non-celebrity” local party leader in the Kallai ward of the Kozhikode Corporation for the local body polls. Its plan to field film-maker V.M. Vinu as a “surprise candidate” and mayoral aspirant had miserably failed after it turned out that his name was not on the voters’ list published by the State Election Commission. Though Mr. Vinu filed a petition in the Kerala High Court seeking a favourable order, it was also dismissed. On Thursday, the party declared Baiju Kalakkandi, president of its Panniyankara mandalam committee, as the new candidate from Kallai.