Kozhikode: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday announced its candidates for three constituencies in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections, even as the party grapples with an internal crisis and growing dissent against the leadership.

State president M V Sreyams Kumar declared the candidates for Koothuparamba, Vadakara, and Kalpetta. P K Praveen will contest from Koothuparamba in Kannur district, M K Bhaskaran from Vatakara in Kozhikode, and P K Anilkumar from Kalpetta in Wayanad.

Soon after the announcement, state secretary general Sabah Pulppatta strongly criticised the decision to contest three seats, alleging it was taken without adequate internal discussion. Following his remarks, he was suspended by the state president. Pulppatta is expected to announce his next course of action on Thursday, with support among leaders and workers, including those in Kozhikode. The Malappuram district committee has also passed a resolution opposing the disciplinary action against him.

Anilkumar’s candidature comes after Sreyams Kumar decided not to contest this time. A former secretary of the Wayanad District Congress Committee, Anilkumar, joined the RJD five years ago and is the son of senior Congress leader P K Gopalan.

Praveen is a relative of sitting MLA K P Mohanan and has previously served as a councillor in Panoor municipality and as a member of the Panoor grama panchayat. Bhaskaran is currently the Kozhikode district president of the RJD.

In the previous Assembly elections, the RJD contested three seats and won only Koothuparamba, where K P Mohanan defeated IUML's Pottakandi Abdulla by 9,541 votes. In 2021, Sreyams Kumar lost the Kalpetta seat to Congress leader T  Siddique by 5,470 votes, though he had won the constituency in 2006.

The party had sought three additional seats—Koduvally, Kovalam, and Chalakudy—from the Left Democratic Front (LDF), but the request was declined, leading to dissatisfaction among party members. A significant section of leaders is reportedly unhappy with the leadership's decision to accept the LDF's stance.

Tensions between the RJD and the CPM had already surfaced after the party's poor performance in recent local body elections, with district leaders in Kozhikode blaming sections of the CPM for their defeat. Although reconciliation efforts were initiated, discontent persists.

Further complicating matters, RJD's North and South mandalam committees in Kozhikode had reportedly expressed unwillingness to cooperate with the LDF in the upcoming elections. According to a senior party leader, nearly 90 per cent of leaders and workers are unhappy with the current leadership's approach but are refraining from speaking out publicly to avoid harming the prospects of the party's candidates.