THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the CPM Politburo deciding to project Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan once again as the captain of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the upcoming Assembly elections, the front is expected to soon enter the campaign field after completing seat-sharing talks and candidate selection among its allies.
Meanwhile, in the Congress party, the next major challenge for the KPCC leadership is to allocate seats to the Youth Congress and the KSU. Both organisations have submitted their lists of preferred candidates to Deepa Dasmunsi, the AICC General Secretary in charge of Kerala.CPM candidate list to be discussed on Saturday
The list of candidates prepared by the CPM district secretariats and submitted to the state leadership will be discussed at the state secretariat meeting today. Changes may be suggested if necessary, and guidelines based on Politburo decisions will be incorporated before sending it back to the district secretariats for further discussion. The final list is expected to be approved at the state secretariat meetings scheduled for March 4 and 6. Apart from party state secretary M. V. Govindan, attention is focused on which senior leaders will enter the electoral fray.Four seats for Youth Congress?
In the Congress camp, the Youth Congress is likely to get up to four seats, while the KSU may get two. Youth Congress state president O.J. Janeesh is likely to contest from Kodungallur, state working president Binu Chulliyil from Chengannur, and national secretary Abin Varkey from Aranmula. Youth Congress vice president Aritha Babu may be considered for Kayamkulam along with KPCC general secretary K.P. Sreekumar.Though the Youth Congress initially submitted a list of 40 names, it was later reduced to 12 following directions from the national leadership. KSU state president Aloshious Xavier is likely to contest from Peermade, while vice president Ann Sebastian may be fielded in Thrissur district.
