THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress central election committee will shortly clear the first list of 28 candidates submitted by the state leadership.
KPCC president Sunny Joseph and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan submitted the draft list consisting of sitting MLAs and several other leaders whose names were proposed unanimously at the state level, to steering committee chairman Madhusudan Mistry in New Delhi on March 1.
Congress sources said that the final leg of the ‘Puthuyuga yatra’ led by Satheesan has entered Thiruvananthapuram, and the candidate selection process will intensify over the next two days. The screening committee has decided to convene its next meeting in the state after March 7, following the culmination of the yatra. “We plan to arrive at a consensus on the remaining candidates by then,” said a senior Congress leader.
Though it was decided earlier to include all the 20 sitting MLAs, excluding Rahul Mamkootathil and K Babu, in the draft list, there are indications that the leadership has not reached a consensus on certain seats. The leadership is closely examining Perumbavoor, represented by Eldhose Kunnappilly and Thrikkakara represented by Uma Thomas.
However, a leader said that while certain considerations are being made, it does not mean that Congress is replacing the two sitting MLAs.
“We have not taken a final decision on these constituencies. Since this election is very crucial for the Congress, we do not want to make any mistakes,” he said. Apart from sitting MLAs, K Muraleedharan (Vattiyoorkavu), T N Prathapan (Manalur), V T Balram (Thrithala), Aisha Potti (Kottarakara), and O J Janeesh (Kodungallur) have been reportedly included in the first list.
Meanwhile, in the second list, the leadership is likely to finalise the candidature of K Jayant (Kozhikode North), K Praveen Kumar (Koyilandy), K Abhijith (Nadapuram), and Vidya Balakrishnan (Elathur). In Balussery, three names – Ramya Haridas, V P Sooraj and E K Seethal Raj – are under consideration.
In the high-voltage Palakkad constituency, though actor Ramesh Pisharody’s name is under active consideration, there is opposition to the proposal from a section of district leaders. After K Muraleedharan opted out of Palakkad, KPCC secretary P V Rajesh’s name was also under consideration along with that of Pisharody. The Congress has yet to finalise its candidates for the two seats in Kasaragod – Uduma and Kanhangad.
Justifying the delay in releasing the candiate list, Satheesan said that since the election declaration is yet to be made, there is no urgency to publish the list early.
“If the election declaration comes tomorrow, the Congress will declare its first 50 candidates within 24 hours. If it comes two or three days later, we can declare up to 60 candidates. This time there will not be a delay in declaring candidates.”
Satheesan added that in Palakkad the party has not yet decided on a candidate. “Many names are under consideration,” he said.