He is accused by political foes as having engineered the recent split in the party and conflict with P J Joseph by declaring Thomas Chazhikadan as the UDF (Kerala) Lok sabha candidate from Kottayam. He was unsuccessfully contested in the parliament election in 2004. He lost to P C Thomas in Muvattupuzha constituency. In 2007, he was elected general-secretary of the Kerala Congress. He 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) (CPI(M)). He was again elected from Kottayam in 2014 with a winning margin of 120,599 over Mathew T. Thomas of JD(S). Jose is a Member of the Lok Sabha Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture. He is the Chairman of Centre for Reform and Research, a youth empowerment society. He is also the President of Vikasana Sena, a youth association associated with Prateeksha Rotary Centre for Mentally Challenged Children.

Jose K. Mani was born to politician K. M. Mani and Kuttiyama on 29 May 1965 in Pala, Kerala. Jose did his schooling at Montfort School, Yercaud. He attended Loyola College, Chennai for his undergraduate degree and then graduated with a M.B.A from PSG College of Arts and science , Coimbatore.