THIRUVANANATHAPURAM : The Congress screening committee on Thursday proposed the names of 15 sitting MPs as candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, while leaving the decision on the Alappuzha seat to the central leadership before the party’s central election committee (CEC) is convened.
Meanwhile, there are indications the national leadership may bring in changes in Thrissur, Mavelikkara and Pathanamthitta seats, replacing sitting MPs with fresh faces. The screening committee is likely to meet once more in New Delhi before the CEC takes a final call on candidates on the 16 Lok Sabha seats that the Congress is contesting.
High drama prevailed at the screening committee meeting held at Hotel Hyatt Regency when Congress state president K Sudhakaran insisted he would not contest from Kannur, his sitting seat, and expressed desire to continue as the KPCC chief.
The announcement caught AICC general secretary in charge of the state Deepa Dasmunshi, screening committee chairman Harish Chaudhary and member Jignesh Mevani by surprise.
State unit keen on Rahul defending Wayanad
A senior AICC leader told TNIE that the committee, however, managed to persuade Sudhakaran. “They pointed out that he was the only ‘winnable’ candidate in Kannur. They did not have an alternative for Kannur,” said the leader.
The committee leaders perused the state leadership’s SWOT analysis of the sitting MPs. The state unit insisted on Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad as it would help the party bag all 20 LS seats from Kerala. However, a final call will be taken by Rahul himself. Meanwhile, a section in the high command feels AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal should continue with his Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan, as it would not be appropriate for him to leave it vacant.
“In Alappuzha, a suitable candidate will be announced after taking communal equations into consideration. The state leadership has demanded that Rahul defend his Wayanad seat. There are chances of fresh faces being introduced in Thrissur, Pathanamthitta and Mavelikkara,” said the AICC leader. The assessment by poll analyst Sunil Kanugolu about the three seats will also be crucial.