Thiruvananthapuram: Congress will announce its first list of candidates in the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the upcoming assembly elections in Kerala.

The party leadership in Kerala has initiated informal enquiries into the current political situation and the prospects of different Congress candidates in these constituencies.

In the 2021 Assembly election, the Congress had fielded candidates in 13 reserved seats – Mananthavady, Sulthan Bathery, Balussery, Wandoor, Tarur, Chelakkara, Nattika, Kunnathunadu, Devikulam, Vaikom, Mavelikkara, Adoor and Chirayinkeezhu. However, the party won only in two seats – Sulthan Bathery and Wandoor.

The party believes it can win more seats this year through careful candidate selection. While the former party leadership was criticised for fielding candidates without proper scrutiny in the reserved constituencies during the 2021 election, the current leadership has decided to thoroughly analyse candidates and consult experts before making a decision. They hope that these moves would signal to voters that Congress is prioritising reserved seats.

The plan is to announce the first list of candidates with sitting MLAs who will contest along with the candidates selected for the reserved seats. This move will finalise the party's contenders in around 30 constituencies.

However, Palakkad legislator Rahul Mamkoottathil, who has been expelled from the party, will not be allotted a seat. Similarly, the final decision on fielding Tripunithura MLA K Babu, who is facing health issues, is yet to be taken. The remaining 21 sitting Congress legislators would seek another term.

Meanwhile, the screening committee, headed by national leader Madhusudan Mistry, tasked with selecting candidates, will be in Kerala on January 13 and 14 for discussions with senior party leaders in the state.

However, the Congress can officially announce its candidates only after the seat-sharing process is completed among the constituent parties of the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by it.