The CPM has dropped 38 sitting MLAs including five ministers from its candidate list and fielded an equal number of newcomers, banking on youth to try and retain power in Kerala.
The party on Wednesday announced its nominees for 83 of the 85 constituencies it will contest when Kerala votes on April 6 to fill its 140 Assembly seats.
A party release said 25 of the candidates were aged below 50, including four who were under 30 — K.M. Sachin Dev (Balussery), Jaick C. Thomas (Puthupally), Linto Joseph (Thiruvambady) and P. Mithuna (Wandoor). Twelve women, including eight newcomers, have been fielded. Another 33 candidates are under 60.
The CPI, the second-biggest partner in the ruling Left Democratic Front, had on Monday announced candidates for 21 of the 25 seats it will contest.
All the MLAs and ministers dropped had served two or more consecutive terms — a yardstick the CPM has adopted to ease out the veterans in favour of younger and fresher faces.
The ministers left out are Thomas Isaac (finance), G. Sudhakaran (public works), E.P. Jayarajan (sports), C. Raveendranath (education) and A.K. Balan (SC/ST development). Also dropped is Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan.
While announcing the list, CPM acting state secretary A. Vijayaraghavan told a news conference the party wanted to promote young candidates and professionals. The list includes 28 lawyers, an architect and 2 medical doctors, party sources said.
Vijayaraghavan said the candidates for Devikulam in Idukki and Manjeshwar in Kasaragod would be announced later but didn’t explain the delay.
Local leader K.R. Jayananda had been tipped for the Manjeshwar ticket but party cadres have been demanding a stronger candidate considering the CPM had come third from the constituency in a triangular fight the last time.
The candidate of the Indian Union Muslim League, a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, had edged past state BJP president K. Surendran by just 89 votes in 2016.
Apart from withholding the nomination from Manjeshwar, the CPM has largely ignored the brewing ground-level resentment in several districts over its choice of candidates. CPM leaders have declared there would be no going back on the party decision.
The candidate list names eight state secretariat members including chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan (Dharmadom), health minister K.K. Shailaja (Mattannur), excise minister T.P. Ramakrishnan (Perambra) and electricity minister M.M. Mani (Udumbanchola).
Vijayaraghavan said 42 of the candidates were graduates, 14 others held master’s degrees and another 2 had doctorates.
Of the 83 candidates announced, 9 are Independents, including minority affairs minister K.T. Jaleel.
The CPM will field V.P. Sanu, national president of its student arm SFI, in the Lok Sabha by-election from Malappuram constituency, recently vacated by P.K. Kunhalikutty of the IUML.
Vijayaraghavan denied allegations that the CPM had had to compromise on seat-sharing with its 10 LDF partners.
“All the LDF partners have sacrificed seats; the CPM gave up five sitting seats,” he said.
Former Lok Sabha member M.B. Rajesh, who had lost during the 2019 general election, will contest the Thrithala Assembly seat in Palakkad, where he will battle the incumbent V.T. Balram of the Congress.
“The party and the LDF have entrusted me with a very important task. This election is crucial for Kerala’s future and India’s political trajectory,” Rajesh told reporters.
The Left had won 91 of the 140 seats in 2016.
