Thiruvananthapuram: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has begun preparations for the much-anticipated by-election in Kottayam's Puthuppally constituency. 

Following the death of Oommen Chandy last month, it became clear that an election becomes inevitable in Puthuappally, a Congress bastion for the past half a century. 

Meanwhile, CPM has decided to name its candidate only after the official notification for election comes out. Minister V.N Vasavan and K.K Ramachandran are tasked to head the party's election campaign in the constituency. 

At the same time, six of the eight panchayats in Puthuppally are ruled by LDF. Each panchayat has been assigned a party leader to oversee campaigns targeted at improving vote share. 

Meanwhile, reports from the LDF camp indicate that DYFI central committee member Jaick C Thomas, who contested against Chandy in the last assembly election, and CPM district secretariat members Reji Zacharia and K.M Radhakrishnan are propable candidates.