Thiruvananthapuram: From politburo member to ministers, sitting MLAs and dissident leaders from the rival camps, the CPI(M) in Kerala has announced candidates for the 15 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala from which the party is contesting.
While former ministers K K Shailaja Teacher, T M Thomas Isaac and C Raveendranath are contesting from Vadakara, Pathanamthitta and Chalakudy respectively, politburo member A Vijayaraghavan is in the fray from Palakkad and devaswom minister K Radhakrishnan is contesting the election from Alathur.
Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem is in the fray from Kozhikode.
A dissident leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), K S Hamsa, will contest as CPI(M) candidate at IUML's stronghold Ponnani in Malappuram, while DYFI state president V Waseef will contest from Muslim dominated Malappuram.
Alappuzha sitting MP A M Arif, who was the lone left-front candidate who won from Kerala in 2019, is again in the fray from Alappuzha.
Senior leader M V Jayarajan will be fielded at Kannur with the aim of wresting the seat from Kerala PCC president K Sudhakaran. Another senior leader M V Balakrishnan is in the fray from Kasargod.
Actor-turned politician and sitting MLA M Mukesh will seek the mandate from Kollam. Sitting MLA and CPI(M) Thiruvananthapuram district secretary V Joy will be contesting from Attingal. K J Shine, a woman leader of the school teachers service organisation, will contest from Ernakulam (Kochi). Former MP Joyce George will contest from Idukki.
The CPI(M)-led left front won only one of the 20 seats from Kerala in the 2019 Lok Saba elections. Hence the party decided to field senior leaders this time with the aim of winning maximum seats from Kerala, which is the lone state where the party is in power. Moreover, CPI(M)'s national party status is also at a risk.
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