Thiruvananthapuram: It was the state leadership of the Communist Party of India (CPI) that ultimately decided to field Geetha Gopi as its candidate from the Nattika Assembly constituency in the wake of opposition from local party committees against sitting MLA CC Mukundan.

Although the local committees in Nattika and Cherpu had raised objections to reconsidering the Mukundan, and the Thrissur district unit supported their stand, a counterargument also emerged that he had been given the opportunity only once. Following this, members of the party’s state executive committee from Thrissur held a separate consultation and eventually decided to drop Mukundan and finalise Geetha Gopi as the candidate. The complaints against Mukundan were that he maintained a distance from the local leadership and seldom attended party committee meetings.

Though Geetha Gopi’s name was included in the list sent from the district, she was not the first choice for the seat. It was suggested that her name could be considered if Mukundan was dropped from the list. The leadership also took into account the fact that during the previous election, leaders who had completed two terms were given an opportunity to contest for a third term, while Geetha Gopi alone had been denied such a chance. This factor also worked in her favour.

Meanwhile, the decision to field Alankode Leelakrishnan was taken in view of the Thrissur district leadership’s demand for a candidate with a cultural background. Initially, Jayraj Warrier was considered as a replacement for P. Balachandran, who had already informed the party of his unwillingness to contest. However, Warrier declined the offer. Subsequently, while a meeting of the state leadership was in progress, Alankode was contacted and informed that he would be fielded in the polls

For the Nadapuram seat, former assistant secretary CN Chandran was also among the probable candidates, along with P Vasantham. However, a few leaders strongly argued in favour of Chandran. Although the party had decided not to give another opportunity to anyone who had already completed three terms, the district councils of Kollam and Pathanamthitta had requested that the candidacies of PS Supal (Punalur), Chittayam Gopakumar (Adoor), and GS Jayalal (Chathannoor) be reconsidered. The state executive committee meeting, however, rejected these requests outright.

During the meeting, some leaders expressed the view that it would be good to include at least one senior leader, such as K Prakash Babu or KP Rajendran, in the list. Although the state secretary also spoke in support of the suggestion, the leadership ultimately decided against it, noting that granting an exception to leaders who had already contested three times would affect the term-limit norm set by the party.

Commenting on the decision to field Geetha Gopi in his place, CC Mukundan alleged that the party had turned Nattika into a “payment seat.”

“Removing me after just one term goes against the party’s practice. Though BJP leaders have approached me, I have no interest in joining them,” he said.

Party state secretary Binoy Viswam dismissed the charge, stating that there has never been a pay-for-seat deal in the Communist Party and there never will be one.

“The district leadership had taken the stand that Mukundan should not continue. Geetha Gopi will not be replaced. We will listen to what Mukundan has to say. He will not go to any other camp,” he said.

Geetha Gopi, however, declined to comment.