THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF has decided to field senior leaders for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state. AICC sources told Express leaders including N K Premachandran, M M Hassan, K C Venugopal and K V Thomas will be in the fray.
Premachandran will again contest from Kollam, while Venugopal will be the UDF candidate from Alappuzha. In Mavelikkara, the party is contemplating the candidature of former minister Pandalam Sudhakaran, who hails from this constituency. K P Dhanapalan will contest from Chalakudy.
Adoor Prakash will most probably be the candidate from Attingal. Anto Antony will be contesting from Pathanamthitta and M K Raghavan from Kozhikode. Former KPCC president Hassan will contest from Wayanad. In Kannur, the party will be looking for a Young Turk, and in Vadakara Kozhikode DCC president T Siddique will be the candidate.
Party sources said former Chief Minister and AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy is most likely to contest from Kottayam Lok Sabha seat.
Kerala Congress (Mani) has been contesting the Kottayam Lok Sabha seat for long. They will swap the Kottayam seat for Idukki to pave the way for Chandy to enter Lok Sabha, sources said.
The Congress leadership is of the opinion that the candidature of Chandy will give an impetus to other UDF candidates in the state. Speaking to Express, Chandy categorically denied that he will contest Lok Sabha polls from Kottayam. However, a senior KPCC leader said Chandy will contest from Kottayam and his candidature will give the party and front added vigour and drive.
Appu John Joseph, son of PJ Joseph, will be the likely candidate of the Kerala Congress (Mani) from Idukki. Sources told Express that K M Mani had agreed to field Appu from Idukki as a quid pro quo for the smooth entry of Jose K Mani to Rajya Sabha.
Another surprise candidate will be B Subbaiah Rai from Kasargod. Rai, who is the son of late Congress MP I Rama Rai and son-in-law of the late CPM MP Ramanna Rai, is popular in Manjeswaram belt, and can cut through the vote bank of the BJP.
It may be noted that both Rama Rai and Ramanna Rai had represented Kasargod constituency, and fielding Subbaiah Rai will be a strategic political move by the Congress as he can cut into the votes of both the BJP and the CPM.
While KA Thulasi may be the candidate in Alathur, in Palakkad the party is yet to zero in on a candidate. In Thrissur, TN Prathapan is the front runner. Veteran leader K V Thomas, who is close to both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, will get a renomination from Ernakulam.
Discussions on Malappuram and Ponnani have not taken place as both these seats are represented by the Muslim League.
State Congress president Mullappally Ramachandran said: “We have not yet properly started discussions regarding candidates. I can only assure that we will field apt candidates with high winning chances in all constituencies.”