THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM state committee member and national president of DYFI, AA Rahim, will be the party's candidate for one of the three Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant from the southern state next month.
Rahim's candidature was announced on Wednesday by the state committee of CPM which has decided to share 2 out of the 3 seats with its coalition partner CPI. The CPI has already announced that its candidate would be former national general secretary of the All India Youth Federation (AIYF), P Santhosh Kumar.
The elections for the Rajya Sabha seats are being held as the terms of senior Congress leader AK Antony, K Somaprasad (CPM) and MV Shreyams Kumar (LJD) will expire on April 2. The Congress has started discussing the party's candidate for its lone seat.
Antony has said he will quit active parliamentary politics and not seek re-election to the Rajya Sabha, but will continue to contribute to party politics in Kerala.