The Congress will contest the Assembly elections in Kerala in 91 constituencies. It will announce the list of candidates on Sunday.
KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said in New Delhi that the AICC had finalised the names of 81 candidates. The list had the imprimatur of the Congress national president Sonia Gandhi.
The party was yet to clinch the names of the contestants in 10 seats. He denied indecision caused the delay.
No sitting MP from the State would contest. Mr. Ramachandran did not commit whether former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy or Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala would compete from the high-profile Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram.
He said a strong candidate would take on the CPI(M) and BJP at Nemom. No one person would contest in two seats.
Seat-sharing with allies
The UDF has completed sharing of seats with allies. IUML would compete in 27 seats, P. J. Joseph faction of the Kerala Congress in 10, RSP in five, Nationalist Congress Kerala in two, including Pala, and the CMP in one from Nenmara.
The UDF would support RMP if K.K. Rema competed from Vadakara. The Congress has requested Forward Bloc leader G. Devarajan to oppose Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Dharmadam.
In Kerala, squabbling over Assembly seats appeared to mark a low ebb for the Congress. It seemed to belie the picture of unity presented by the KPCC leadership in New Delhi.
Long-standing tensions between party factions in local units of the Congress threatened to break out into the open in Idukki, Kasaragod, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Thrissur.
Protests break out
In Idukki, Congress workers threatened to quit the party if it denied former DCC president Roy. K. Paulose a seat. Similar protests occurred for A. V. Gopinath in Palakkad, Sony Sebastian in Kannur, former Excise Minister K. Babu in Thripunithura, INTUC leader K. P. Haridas in Ernakulam and Varkala Kahar in Thiruvananthapuram districts.
Some workers opposed the “candidature” of KPCC office-bearer Mathew Kuzhalnadan in Chalakudy. Congress defector Vijayan Thomas chose the day to join the BJP.
Congress leaders attempted to play down the friction over seat-sharing in the party. They said opportunities for reconciliation with dissents would surface as the election campaign unfolded. Mr. Chennithala and Mr. Chandy would spearhead the settlement discussions.
