THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The election committee of the Congress will be finalising the list of party candidates during its meeting on March 4. Before finalising the list, it will hold one more round of discussions with its main coalition partners, the Kerala Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League, on March 1 and 2. With the Congress party firm on providing only one seat to the KC(M) and two seats to the IUML, the party is only waiting for the final meeting with these main coalition partners to announce its list of candidates.
KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran told Express: “The Congress will be finalising its list of candidates by next week. We are taking several factors into consideration and the main criterion is winnability of the candidates.” With the AICC general secretary in charge of the state Mukul Wasnik returning to the state on February 28, there will be hectic back door manoeuvres and brainstorming to have a final list.
Mullappally, who is leading his Janamahayatra which commenced from Kasargod district on February 3, will conclude it here on February 28. Mullappally got a direct grass root feedback on the candidates to be shortlisted during his yatra and there is a feeling among the party senior leadership in the state not to sign a blank cheque by providing seats to all the sitting Lok Sabha MPs.
Resent has been brewing against some sitting MPs and Wasnik has, according to sources, called upon the state president not to insist on sitting MPs in all seats. This is a major shift from the earlier stand taken by the Congress party that it will be fielding all the sitting MPs.