THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM secretariat, which met on Saturday to discuss candidate selection for the assembly elections, witnessed dramatic moments after senior leader K K Shailaja turned emotional over the party keeping her away from contesting.
The party leadership has not been keen on fielding the former health minister from her sitting seat - Mattannur. Her name has not been included in the candidate list proposed by the Kannur district leadership, either.
When the secretariat discussed the possible candidates and the number of secretariat members to be considered for candidature, Shailaja, sources said, turned emotional at one point, asking “Why am I being singled out?”
She posed the question to the senior leaders as many other secretariat members have been given one more chance to contest. Shailaja also conveyed to the leadership that she is ready to contest from Peravoor constituency, currently represented by state Congress president Sunny Joseph. Following this, the leadership is actively considering to let her contest from Peravoor.
A final decision on the same will be taken at the next secretariat meeting on Wednesday. The leadership has, however, categorically ruled out fielding her from Mattannur, considered a safe CPM seat. Though TNIE tried to contact Shailaja, she didn’t respond to calls or messages.
Sources said the the state leadership was not inclined to field her in the coming elections. The party’s policy for this election stipulates two-term limit for candidates in safe seats, and that was the reason for not including her in the draft list prepared by the Kannur district secretariat, said a source.
The development has triggered public discussions, given her popularity. As per the norm, speaker A N Shamseer is unlikely to contest from Thalassery constituency.
The leadership also decided that other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, no other Politburo member will contest. It was also decided that leaders who were dropped from the 2021 candidate list won’t be fielded again, thereby ruling out the chances of veterans like Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran and E P Jayarajan.
It has also been decided that, of the 17 state secretariat members, all the ministers in the present Pinarayi Vijayan government will contest.
State secretary M V Govindan and LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan will not contest.