Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Kanam Rajendran has unveiled the initial list of candidates for the Assembly elections on April 6.
The CPI is contesting in 25 Assembly segments. The CPI has finalised the names for 21 constituencies. At least 12 sitting MLAs, including Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan and Deputy Speaker V. Sasi, figure in the first list.
The CPI had excluded Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar, Forest Minister P. Raju and Food and Civil Supplies Minister P. Thilothaman. They had contested the Assembly elections three times.
Incumbent Vaikom legislator C.K. Asha is the only woman on the initial list. The State executive council had finalised the list. It had considered the panel of names submitted by district committees and made some additions and deletions.
There are seven new faces in the list. They are P. Prasad (Cherthala), Vazhoor Soman (Peerumade), P. Balachandran (Thrissur), Suresh Raj (Mannarkkad), K.T. Abdul Rahman (Ernad), Ajith Koladi (Tirurangadi) and Dibona Nasar (Manjeri).
The others are G.R. Anil (Nedumangad), P.S. Supal (Punalur), G.S. Jayalal (Chathanoor), C.K. Asha (Vaikkom), Muhammad Mohasin (Pattambi), Chittayam Gopakumar (Adoor), E.K. Vijayan (Nadapuram), R. Ramachandran (Karunagapally), V. Sasi (Chirayankeezhu), K. Rajan (Ollur), V.R. Sunil Kumar (Kodungalloor), Eldho Abraham (Muvattupuzha), T.T. Simon (Kaipamangalam), and E. Chandrasekharan (Kanhangad).
The CPI is yet to name its candidates for Chadayamangalam, Haripad, Paravoor and Nattika constituencies.
By one account, the State executive council considered increasing women representation. The CPI has batted for 33% of women reservation in Assembly and Lok Sabha seats. The party might consider women candidates for the Nattika and Chadayamangalam Assembly segments.
The executive council reportedly criticised the LDF’s overemphasis on Kerala Congress (M). The ruling front had assigned the new entrant an outsize number of seats in the Kottayam district. When the KC(M) got five seats, the CPI was reduced to a single constituency. Council members also lamented that the party had no representation in Kannur district.
Mr. Rajendran reportedly explained that the CPI had to make some sacrifices to accommodate new allies. The CPI(M) had done the same.
The CPI had got a seat in Kannur only in 2011. The party had made little inroads in the constituency. The same was the case with the Kanjirappally Assembly segment in Kottayam. The KC(M) had held the seat firmly in its grasp for the past several years. The CPI had suffered no loss by ceding Kanjirappally to KC(M).
When pressed whether the CPI would accommodate Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the Left Democratic Front (LDF), Mr. Rajendran asked back whether any party was untouchable in Indian politics. He said a party’s prominence in a coalition depended on the number of seats it could win.
