Chandy to contest from Puthuppally, Muraleedharan from Nemom; Congress reveals candidates' list

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran announcing Congress candidates at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

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.

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