Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI has decided to field ET Taison, the party’s sitting MLA from Kaipamangalam, against Opposition Leader VD Satheesan of the Congress in Paravurr in the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala. With this move, the CPI has laid to rest speculation about exchanging the Paravur seat with the CPM.

The decision to make Taison contest against Satheesan was taken at the state council meeting of the CPI held on Sunday. The party granted a waiver to Taison—who has represented Kaipamangalam for two consecutive terms—from its norm of not fielding MLAs who have won two successive elections.

The CPI’s Ernakulam district council had earlier suggested four names for Paravur. However, the CPM raised objections to some of them with the CPI leadership. Considering this, the CPI state council selected Taison, whose name was not among the four probable candidates named by the district unit.

However, when contacted, Taison said he had not yet received any communication from the party about the decision to field him in Paravur.

“I had informed the leadership that I am not interested in any seat other than Kaipamangalam,” he said.

In place of Taison, the CPI has chosen KK Valsaraj, a state secretariat member, as the candidate for Kaipamangalam.

Meanwhile, in Thrissur, the party has decided on a surprise candidate to replace the current MLA P Balachandran. The nominee is noted poet Alankode Leelakrishnan, who is also the state president of Yuva Kala Sahithi, the CPI’s cultural wing.

The CPI state council has also finalised candidates for all the 25 seats the party will contest. However, a formal announcement will be made only after the seat-sharing agreement within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is completed. The CPI list includes two independent candidates.

The full list is as follows:

1. Nedumangad: G R Anil
2. Chirayinkeezhu: Manoj B Edamana
3. Karunagappally: M S Thara
4. Chathannoor: R Rajendran
5. Chadayamangalam: J Chinchurani
6. Punalur: C Ajaya Prasad
7. Adoor: Priji Sreedharan
8. Peerumedu: K Salim Kumar
9. Vaikom: P Pradeep
10. Cherthala: P Prasad
11. Haripad: T T Jismon
12. Paravur: E T Taison
13. Muvattupuzha: N Arun
14. Ollur: K Rajan
15. Nattika: Geetha Gopi
16. Kodungallur: V R Sunil Kumar
17. Kaipamangalam: K K Vatsaraj
18. Thrissur: Alankode Leelakrishnan
19. Pattambi: Muhammed Muhasin
20. Mannarkkad: Manzil Aboobacker
21. Nadapuram: P Vasantham
22. Tirurangadi: V M Musthafa (Independent)
23. Eranad: Shafeer Kizhisseri (Independent)
24. Manjeri: Ajith Kolady
25. Kanhangad: Govindan Pallikkappil