The Congress has approved its first list of 31 candidates, including sitting MLAs, for the upcoming Assembly elections. The official announcement will be made after the election dates are announced. The decision was taken by the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) at a meeting attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.

All sitting MLAs have been given tickets except in Palakkad, currently represented by Rahul Mamkootathil who is no longer in the Congress, and Thrippunithura, where K Babu had stepped down. Though there had been uncertainty over Eldhose Kunnappilly in Perumbavoor, his name was approved in the list cleared on Wednesday. The CEC also cleared the name of I C Balakrishnan in Sulthan Bathery. However, it has directed that survey reports and letters received by the AICC regarding Eldhose Kunnappilly be examined once again.

Other names approved include: K Muraleedharan (Vattiyoorkavu), V T Balram (Thrithala), T N Prathapan (Manalur), V P Sajeendran (Kunnathunad), Bindu Krishna (Kollam), K Praveen Kumar (Koyilandy), O J Janeesh (Kodungallur), K C Subrahmanyan (Tarur), K P Naushad Ali (Ponnani), Sumesh Achuthan (Chittur) and Aisha Potty (Kottarakkara).

The CEC considered 51 names in two separate files on Wednesday. Approval was granted for the 31 names in the first file. Among the remaining 20 constituencies, nine have only a single name under consideration. The CEC will review these seats again on Thursday.

After the meeting, K C Venugopal said it would become clear whether it is a strong list once the candidates are officially announced. From Kerala, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan and KPCC president Sunny Joseph attended the CEC meeting.

It has also been confirmed that C P John of the CMP will be the candidate from Thiruvananthapuram. The Congress has already informed the CMP leadership about this decision. However, a section of party leaders in the district is reportedly unhappy about allotting the traditional Congress seat to its ally.

Seat-sharing between the Congress and the Muslim League in the UDF is yet to be finalised. Thiruvambady will be handed over to the Congress by the League. Kongad will also go to the Congress. There are also discussions about possible seat swaps involving Nadapuram and Perambra, and Koothuparamba and Taliparamba.

The Congress high command has taken a firm stand that sitting MPs should not contest in the Assembly elections, and no exceptions will be made. With this decision, it is clear that the organisational general secretary, K C Venugopal, will not enter the fray.