THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ending a long wait, the Congress on Tuesday evening released its first list of 55 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala.
The party retained most sitting MLAs while leaving several constituencies, including many in Thiruvananthapuram, undecided over fielding candidates.
As per the list issued by the AICC, all sitting MLAs have largely been renominated except in two constituencies - Palakkad and Thripunithura.
The sitting seat of Perumbavoor has been left vacant. The Palakkad seat, which had seen controversy involving Rahul Mamkootathil, has now been allotted toRamesh Pisharody.
No candidate has been announced in Thripunithura, where K Babu had stepped aside. M Vincent will contest from Kovalam.
A final decision on Eldhose Kunnappilly’s candidature in Perumbavoor is still pending. IC Balakrishnan will contest from Sulthan Bathery.
The party has not announced a candidate in the Kannur constituency. Sunny Joseph will contest from Peravoor, K Muraleedharan from Vattiyoorkavu, T Siddique from Kalpetta, and K M Abhijith from Nadapuram. It has fielded Sajeev Joseph from Irikkur, Abdul Rasheed from Dharmadam and K P Saju from Thalassery.
Shanimol Usman will contest from Aroor, Bindhu Krishna from the Kollam constituency and Ramya Haridas from Chirayinkeezhu. Aisha Potty will contest from Kottarakkara. Several constituencies, especially in Thiruvananthapuram district, including Nemom and Kazhakoottam, remain undecided.
Candidates have been announced in only three constituencies in the Thiruvananthapuram district. Notably, the party is yet to finalise candidates in several constituencies, particularly where factional disputes persist.
The high command’s earlier directive that MPs should not contest Assembly elections has also delayed announcements in a few seats.