Thiruvananthapuram: Five CPM ministers and the Speaker are unlikely to make it to the candidate list of the party for the April 6 Kerala Assembly Election as the leading ruling party in the state has decided to harshly implement the own norm of barring its legislators or former candidates from contesting again if they had contested two times on the trot. This has upset the party cadre and office in several parts of the state as their favourite leader may have to sit out of the poll fray.
Though it was earlier decided that CPM candidates who had lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha election also need not be considered for the state polls as per this regulation, an exemption has been given to P Rajeev, K N Balagopal, V N Vasavan and M B Rajesh.
Rajeev is set to contest from the Kalamassery assembly constituency and Balagopal from the Kottarakkara seat. Vasavan will be in the fray from Ettumanoor and Rajesh from Thrithala.
Ministers excluded
Ministers E P Jayarajan, A K Balan, Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran, C Raveendranath and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan won't get the official nomination to contest as per the two-term condition.
Some members in the party state committee disagreed with this drastic move as they feared a backlash. The leadership explained that the last state committee meet itself had decided to strictly implement the two-term norm to exclude those who had successive terms twice or more.
Among leaders who are part of the CPM Central Committee and the state Secretariat, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Health Minister KK Shailaja, Minister T P Ramakrishnan, Minister M M Mani, M V Govindan, K Radhakrishnan, K N Balagopal and P Rajeev will contest the polls.
Instead of Minister A K Balan, his wife and former health department director Dr P K Jameela is set to become the candidate in Tharoor. She is the daughter of (late) PK Kunjachan, who was a CPM central committee member. R Bindu, the wife of LDF convenor and CPM acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan, is likely to be the candidate in Irinjalakuda.
Shoranur MLA PK Shashi, against whom the party had taken action over sexual assault allegations, also was omitted.
The state committee also raised doubts over whether there was adequate women representation on the list.
The district and block committees would discuss the state committee's instructions on Saturday and Sunday. Subsequently, the state secretariat that will meet again on Monday will finalise the list.
The list of probable candidates as of early Saturday is below. Revisions are likely in the days leading to the release of the final candidate list which is expected on March 11.
List of probable CPM candidates
1) Thiruvananthapuram district
Parassala - C K Hareendran
Neyyattinkara - K Ansalan
Vattiyoorkavu - V K Prasanth
Kattakada - I B Satheesh
Nemom - V Sivankutty
Kazhakkootam - Kadakampally Surendran
Varkala - V Joy
Vamanapuram - D K Murali
Attingal - O S Ambika
Aruvikkara - G Stephen
2) Kollam district
Kundara - J Mercykutty Amma
Kottarakkara - K N Balagopal
Eravipuram - M Noushad
Kollam - M Mukesh
Chavara - Dr V Sujith (Son of N Vijayan Pillai, MLA, who passed away in 2020. A decision on allotting him CPM party symbol is awaited.)
3) Pathanamthitta district
Aranmula - Veena George
Konni - K U Jenish Kumar
4) Alappuzha district
Alappuzha - P P Chitharanjan
Ambalapuzha - H Salam
Kayamkulam - U Prathibha
Chengannur - Saji Cherian
Aroor - Daleema Jojo
Mavelikkara - Arun Kumar (Change could be expected.)
5) Kottayam district
Kottayam - K Anil Kumar
Ettumanoor - V N Vasavan
Puthuppally - Jaick C Thomas
6) Idukki district
Udumbanchola - M M Mani
Devikulam - A Raja (Change could be expected.)
7) Ernakulam district
Kochi - K J Maxi
Vypin - K N Unnikrishnan
Thrikkakara - Dr J Jacob
Thrippunithura - M Swaraj
Kalamassery - P Rajeev
Kothamangalam - Antony John
Kunnathunad - P V Sreenijan
Aluva - Shelna Nishad
Ernakulam - Shaji George
8) Thrissur district
Chalakudy - U P Joseph
Irinjalakuda - Dr R Bindu
Wadakkanchery - Xavier Chittilappilly
Manalur - MUrali Perunelly
Chelakkara - U R Pradeep
Puthukad - K K Ramachandran
Kunnamkulam - A C Moideen
9) Palakkad district
Alathur - K D Prasenan
Nemara - K Babu
Malampuzha - A Prabhakaran
Kongad - P P Sumod
Tharoor - Dr P K Jameela
Ottapalam - P Unni ( Change could be expected as DYFI state vice-president K Premkumar is also under consideration.)
Thrithala - M B Rajesh
Palakkad - No decision yet.
10) Malappuram district
Thavanoor - K T Jaleel
Ponnani - P Nandakumar /T M Siddique
Kondotty - K P Sulaiman Haji (expat businessman)
Perinthalmanna - K P Muhammed Musthafa (ex-chairman Malappuram Municipality.)
Nilambur - P V Anwar
Mankada - T K Rasheed Ali
Wandoor - P Mithuna
Malappuram - V P Anil
11) Kozhikode district
Perambra - T P Ramakrishnan
Beypore - P A Mohammed Riyas
Balussery - K M Sachin Dev
Thiruvambady - Gireesh John / Linto Joseph
Kunnamangalam - P T A Rahim
Koduvally - Karat Razack
Kozhikode - No decision yet.
Koyilandy - No decision yet.
12) Wayanad district
Mananthavady - O R Kelu
13) Kannur district
Dharmadom - Pinarayi Vijayan
Payyannur - T I Madhusudhanan
Kalliasseri - M Vijin
Azhikode - K V Sumesh
Mattannur - K K Shailaja
Thalassery - A N Shamseer
Taliparamba - M V Govindan
Peravoor - No decision yet.
14) Kasaragod district
Udma - C H Kunhambu
Trikaripur - M Rajagopalan
Manjeswaram - No decision yet.
