THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ruling LDF is one step ahead of the rival fronts by announcing its candidates for the assembly election. It is a do-or-die battle for the front at Nemom, the seat which it lost to the NDA in the previous election. Senior CPM leader V Sivankutty who lost to BJP’s O Rajagopal by 8,671 votes has been fielded again to reclaim the seat. The CPM is contesting in nine other seats in which seven are incumbents, including Tourism and Cooperation Minister Kadakampally Surendran.
The CPI will contest in two seats - Chirayinkeezhu and Nedumangad. V Sasi, the incumbent deputy speaker, is seeking a third term from the Chirayinkeezhu seat and party’s district secretary G R Anil has been fielded in Nedumangad.
This election will also see re-emergence of veteran JDS leader A Neelalohithadasan Nadar. The three-time minister had won from Kovalam four times. The leader’s career met with a break after his resignation from the E K Nayanar ministry in 2000 over a sex scandal. Besides G R Anil, two fresh faces fielded by the Left are O S Ambika in Attingal and G Stephen in Aruvikkara two seasoned politicians in the local self-governments. Ambika is the lone woman candidate of the front.
The front has given a second chance to five candidates who won their maiden assembly election last time. They are C K Hareendran in Parassala, D K Murali in Vamanapuram, I B Satheesh in Kattakkada, K Ansalan in Neyyattinkara and V K Prasanth in Vattiyoorkavu. The Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, a minor ally of the LDF, has announced ex-MLA Antony Raju as its candidate in Thiruvananthapuram.