THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM has finalised its candidate list for the assembly elections — a slate of strong contenders, but with no real surprises. The party state secretariat, which met here on Wednesday, decided to field 10 ministers, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to defend their seats.
Former minister K T Jaleel, despite seeking exclusion, will contest from Thavanur as the party failed to find a replacement. Health Minister Veena George will contest from Aranmula despite reports of her husband seeking her exclusion from the list. Former PSC chairman and Kerala state Wakf Board chairperson M K Sakeer will replace sitting MLA P Nandakumar in Ponnani. LDF independent PTA Rahim will once again contest from Kunnamangalam.
CPM’s foremost woman face K K Shailaja will shift to Peravoor to challenge sitting MLA and state Congress chief Sunny Joseph.
Among prominent leaders dropped are state secretary M V Govindan, former minister M M Mani, Speaker A N Shamseer and M Rajagopalan. State secretariat member M Swaraj has opted out. Though Alappuzha district secretariat had recommended its secretary R Nasar for Kayamkulam, the state secretariat retained him in organisational responsibility, and kept sitting MLA U Pratibha in the seat.
Apart from CM, who will defend his Dharmadom seat, ministers P Rajeeve (Kalamassery), K N Balagopal (Kottarakkara), V N Vasavan (Ettumanoor), Saji Cherian (Chengannur), M B Rajesh (Thrithala), P A Mohamed Riyas (Beypore), Veena George (Aranmula), R
Bindu (Irinjalakuda), O R Kelu (Mananthavady) will be in the fray.
All sitting CPM MLAs in Koz to contest
LDF convener T P Ramakrishnan will defend his Perambra seat, while CPM state secretariat member K K Jayachandran will contest from Udumbanchola, replacing Mani. From Kannur district, the party has finalised T I Madusoodan (Payyannur), M Vijin (Kalliasseri), P K Shyamala (Taliparamba), K V Sumesh (Azhikode), Karayi Rajan (Thalassery) and DYFI state secretary V K Sanoj (Mattannur).
In Kozhikode, all sitting MLAs have been retained. Apart from Ramakrishnan and Riyas, other candidates are Linto Joseph (Thiruvambady), Thottathil Raveendran (Kozhikode North) and K M Sachin Dev (Balussery). In Koyilandy which fell vacant following the demise of Kanathil Jameela, the party is looking for a woman leader. In Palakkad, the candidate will be finalised on Thursday, with P Sarin reportedly the front runner.
Six sitting MLAs in Alappuzha have been renominated. In Malappuram district, Minister V Abdurahman of National Secular Conference will contest from Tanur. In Thiruvananthapuram district, all 10 sitting MLAs of the party have been given tickets.
In Kollam sitting MLA M Mukesh has been dropped. CPM district secretary S Jayamohan will contest the seat. District secretariat member S L Saji Kumar will contest from Kundara. Sitting MLAs M Noushad (Eravipuram) and Sujith Vijayan Pillai (Chavara ) have retained their seats.