Oommen Chandy hints he may not contest LS polls, says Kottayam seat for KC(M)

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy has hinted that he is unlikely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"I am an MLA now. And as of now, the general opinion is that MLAs need not fight the LS elections. I will hold talks with leaders in Kerala on this," Chandy told Manorama News at Bengaluru airport on Thursday. Chandy is currently the AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh.

Chandy's remarks come even as a section of the Congress leaders want the former chief minister to contest from Kottayam. However, Chandy made it clear that the Kottayam seat is for Kerala Congress (M).

Sources say that Chandy will enter the election fray only if the party High Command asks him to contest.

Kerala has 20 Lok Sabha seats. In the 2014 polls, the Congress-led UDF won 12, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front won eight and the BJP managed to finish second in just one constituency - Thiruvananthapuram.

At present, two seats are lying vacant. The Kottayam seat fell vacant after Jose K Mani of the Kerala Congress (Mani) recently quit following his election to the Rajya Sabha.

The Wayanad seat, represented by Congress leader MI Shanavas, fell vacant after the lawmaker passed away last month.

Other possible Congress candidates include Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram), K C Venugopal (Alappuzha), Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikara), M.K.Raghavan (Kozhikode) and Anto Antony (Pathanamthitta), all of whom are sitting Lok Sabha members.

KPCC president Mulapally Ramachandran, who represents the Vadakara seat, has come on record that he won't be contesting.