Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress did a no-surprise move on Sunday by announcing K Muraleedharan as the candidate for the much-hyped Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will contest from Puthuppally constituency in Kottayam.
The party decided to field film actor Dharmajan Bolgatty, who is making his electoral debut, from Balussery in Kozhikode.
While Youth Congress state chief Shafi Parambil has been allotted Palakkad, Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) state president K M Abhijith was fielded at Kozhikode North.
The list of candidates was revealed by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran at a press meet here on Sunday.
Mullappally termed “experience plus youth” as the essence of the list which included 27-year-old Aritha Babu from Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district.
Out of the 92 constituencies Congress will be contesting from, candidates for 86 were announced on Sunday. Candidates for remaining six constituencies, Kalpetta, Nilambur, Vattiyoorkkavu, Kundara, Thavanur, and Pattambi, will be announced later, Mullappally said.
List of Congress candidates:
Thiruvananthapuram
Nemom: K Muraleedharan
Varkala: BRM Shafeer
Chirayinkeezhu: BS Anoop
Nedumangad: PS Prashanth
Vamanapuram: Anad Jayan
Kazhakoottam: SS Lal
Vattiyoorkavu: KP Anilkumar
Thiruvananthapuram: VS Sivakumar
Aruvikkara:KS Sabarinadhan
Parassala: Ansajitha Russell
Kattakada: Malayinkeezhu Venugopal
Kovalam: M Vincent
Neyyattinkara: R Selvaraj
Kollam
Karunagappally: CR Mahesh
Kottarakkara: R Reshmi
Chadayamangalam: MM Nazir
Pathanapuram: Jyothikumar Chamakala
Chathannoor: N Peethambarakurup
Alappuzha
Aroor: Shanimol Usman
Cherthala: S Sarath
Alappuzha: Dr KS Manoj
Ambalappuzha: M Liju
Harippad: Ramesh Chennithala
Kayamkulam: Aritha Babu
Mavelikkara: KK Shaju
Chengannur: M Murali
Pathanamthitta
Ranni: Rinku Cherian
Konni: Robin Peter
Aranmula: K Sivadasan Nair
Kottayam
Puthuppally: Oommen Chandy
Kottayam: Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan
Vaikom: PR Sona
Poonjar: Tommy Kallani
Kanjirapally: Joseph Vazhakkan
Idukki
Devikulam: D Kumar
Peermede: Cyriac Thomas
Udumbanchola: EM Agasthy
Ernakulam
Kunnathunadu: VP Sajeendran
Paravur: VD Satheesan
Thrikkakara: PT Thomas
Aluva: Anwar Sadath
Perumbavoor: Eldos Kunnappilly
Ernakulam: T J Vinod
Angamaly: Roji M John
Tripunithura: K Babu
Vypin: Deepak Joy
Kochi: Tony Chammany
Muvattupuzha: Mathew Kuzhalnadan
Thrissur
Thrissur: Padmaja Venugopal
Vadakkancherry: Anil Akkara
Ollur: Jose Vallur
Kunnamkulam: K Jayashankar
Chelakkara: CC Sreekumar
Pudukkad: Sunil Anthikkad
Kaypamangalam: Sobha Subin
Chalakudy: TJ Saneesh
Nattika: NK Sudheer
Manalur: Vijaya Hari
Kaypamangalam: Sobha Subin
Kodungallur: MP Jackson
Palakkad
Trithala: VT Balram
Shoranur: TH Firoz Babu
Ottapalam: Sarin
Palakkad: Shafi Parambil
Tarur: KA Sheeba
Alathur: Palayam Pradeep
Chittoor: Sumesh Achuthan
Malampuzha: SK Ananthakrishnan
Malappuram
Vandoor: AP Anilkumar
Ponnani: AM Rohit
Kozhikode
Kozhikode North: KM Abhijith
Balussery: Dharmajan Bolgatti
Nadapuram: K Praveenkumar
Beypore: PM Niyas
Koyilandy: N Subramanian
Wayanad
Sultan Bathery: IC Balakrishnan
Mananthavadi: PK Jayalakshmi
Kannur
Peravoor: Sunny Joseph
Thalassery: MP Aravindakshan
Payyannur: M Pradeep Kumar
Kalliasseri: Brajesh Kumar
Taliparamba: Abdul Rasheed PV
Irikkur: Sajeev Joseph
Kasaragod
Uduma: Balakrishnan Periya
Kanhangad: PV Suresh
Youths and first-timers aplenty
The candidates list of the Congress for the upcoming Assembly election in Kerala has a significant representation of youths and first-timers. In fact, of the 82 names approved by the central election committee of the party, there are more than 50 persons who would be fighting their maiden battle for Assembly seats. Other highlights of the list are the presence of eight women candidates, over 40 candidates aged below 55 years and four doctors.
The list, prepared based on the instructions of the high command, has favourably considered the demands for a generational shift in the party. Both the ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions in the Kerala unit of the Congress have received an equal number of seats.
As per the list, all the 20 sitting Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), except K C Joseph, would seek another term. While Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala is to seek a mandate from Haripad, District Congress presidents M Liju (Alappuzha), Satheesan Pacheni (Kannur) and I C Balakrishnan (Wayanad) also would be in the fray.
92 seats for Congress
Meanwhile, the Congress has decided to contest from the Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district after the Bharatiya National Janata Dal (BNJD), which had been allotted the seat, expressed its reluctance to field its candidate. According to BNJD state president John John, the party has formally informed the decision to the leadership of the United Democratic Front.
With Malampuzha in its list, the Congress would be fighting the elections from 92 seats in Kerala, up from 85 during the 2016 polls.
