THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Disregarding the voices of dissent within the party, the ruling CPM on Wednesday announced the list of candidates for the Assembly elections. Party state secretary-in-charge A Vijayaraghavan said various winnable factors forced the party to stick to its stand and efforts will be taken to convince the workers who have concerns over certain candidates.
The party has announced 83 of the total 85 seats where its members or party-supported independents are contesting. Candidates for Manjeswaram, a seat where the local party units raised opposition over the choice of KR Jayananda, and Devikulam will be announced later. CITU leader P Nandakumar will contest from Ponnani street where a large number of party workers took to the streets opposing his candidature. Also, despite the opposition by the local units, party's state leadership decided to give the Kuttyadi seat to its new ally Kerala Congress (M).
Of the 83 candidates, nine are party-backed independents including incumbent higher education minister KT Jaleel at Thavanoor.
Five incumbent ministers, including Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and Works Minister G Sudhakaran, are not in the fray. DYFI national president and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's son-in-law PA Mohammed Riyas is the candidate for the Bepur seat.
There are twelve women candidates, including incumbent minister KK Shailaja and J Mercykutty Amma. Shelna Nishad Ali, daughter-in-law of six-time Congress MLA K Mohammed Ali, will fight the Aluva seat for the LDF. 75-year-old chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is the eldest in the list and 27-year-old SFI leader Sachin Dev is the youngest. Four of the candidates are below the age of 30 and 24 are above the age of 60. There are two PhD holders, two MBBS degree holders, 14 post-graduates and 42 candidates, including 22 law degree holders.
List of the candidates
Thiruvananthapuram
Parassala- CK Hareendran
Neyyattinkara- K Ansalan
Vattiyoorkavu- VK Prasanth
Kattakkada- IB Satheesh
Nemom- V Sivankutty
Kazhakkoottam- Kadakampally Surendran
Varkala - V Joy
Vamanapuram- DK Murali
Attingal- OS Ambika
Aruvikkara - G Stephen
Kollam
Kollam- M Mukesh
Eravipuram- M Noushad
Chavara- Dr Sujith Vijayan
Kundara- J Mercykutty Amma
Kottarakkara- KN Balagopal
Pathanamthitta
Aranmula- Veena George
Konni- KU Janeesh Kumar
Alappuzha
Chengannur- Saji Cheriyan
Kayamkulam- U Prathibha
Ambalappuzha - H Salam
Aroor- Daleema Jojo
Mavelikkara- MS Arun Kumar
Alappuzha- PP Chitharanjan
Kottayam
Ettumanoor- VN Vasavan
Puthuppally- Jaik C Thomas
Kottayam- K Anil Kumar
Ernakulam
Kochi- KJ Maxi
Vypeen- KN Unnikrishnan
Thrikkakkara- Dr J Jacob
Thrippunithura- M Swaraj
Kalamassery- P Rajeev
Kothamangalam- Antony John
Kunnathunadu- PV Sreenijan
Aluva - Shelna Nishad Ali
Ernakulam- Shaji George
Idukki
Udumbanchola- MM Mani
Devikulam- not announced
Thrissur
Irinjalakkuda- R Bindu
Vadakkancherry- Xaviour Chittilappilly
Manalur- Murali Perunelly
Chelakkara- K Radhakrishnan
Guruvayoor- Akbar
Puthukkad- KK Ramachandran
Kunnamkulam- AC Moideen
Palakkad
Thrithala- MB Rajesh
Tarur- PP Sumod
Kongad- Santhakumari
Shoranur- P Mummikutti
Ottappalam- Premkumar
Malampuzha- A Prabhakaran
Alathur- KD Prasenan
Nenmara- K Babu
Wayanad
Mananthavady- OR Kelu
Batheri- MS Viswanathan
Malappuram
Thavanur- KT Jaleel
Ponnani- P Nandakumar
Nilambur- PV Anwar
Tanur- Abdurahiman
Perinthalmanna- Muhammad Musthafa
Kondotty- Sulaiman Haji
Mankada- Rasheedali
Vengara- Jiji
Vandoor- P Mithuna
Kozhikode
Perambra- TP Ramakrishnan
Balussery- Sachin Dev
Kozhikode North- Thottathil Raveendran
Bepur- PA Mohammed Riyas
Thiruvambady- Linto Joseph
Koduvally- Karat Razack
Kunnamangalam- PTA Raheem
Koyilandy- Kanathil Jameela
Kannur
Dharmadam- Pinarayi Vijayan
Thalassery- AN Shamseer
Payyannur- TI Madhusoodanan
Kalliasseri- M Vijin
Azhikode- KV Sumesh
Pervaoor- Zakeer Hussain
Mattannur- KK Shailaja
Taliparamba _ MV Govindan
Kasaragod
Uduma - CH Kunhambu
Manjeswaram- not announced
Thrikkaripur- M Rajagopal