<p>Congress president Rahul Gandhi will formally launch the election campaign of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala on March 14, even as disagreements over candidate selection in the state remains unresolved.</p>.<p>The inauguration will begin with Rahul attending a Congress rally in Kozhikode district in north Kerala.</p>.<p>He is also scheduled to visit the families of Pulwama terror strike martyr Vasantha Kumar in Wayanad district and two Youth Congress workers murdered allegedly by CPM workers in Kasaragod.</p>.<p>He will also inaugurate a National Fishermen Congress in Thrissur district.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF is yet to finalise it candidates for a majority of seats, even as the name of former chief minister Oommen Chandy is doing the rounds for Idukki.</p>.<p>AICC general secretary and sitting MP of Alappuzha K C Venugopal is already out of the fray. There are also rumours that Oommen Chandy is keen on debuting his son, Chandy Oommen, an active member of the Youth Congress.</p>.<p>A strong tussle is also on for the Ernakulam constituency, as sitting MP K V Thomas is keen for another term while local MLA Hibi Eden is also a strong contender.</p>.<p>Even though the formal announcement is yet to come, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has launched a campaign in Thiruvananthapuram sitting seat, eyeing a hat-trick.</p>.<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p>Congress sources said the party is trying to finalise candidates at least by Wednesday, ahead of launch of the campaign by Rahul on Thursday.</p><p>Another headache to the UDF in the in-fighting in Kerala Congress (M), a key coalition partner. The P J Joseph faction and the K M Mani faction are both staking claims for the Kottayam seat. Thomas Chazikadan, a former party MLA, may emerge as a compromise candidate.</p></div></div>
<p>Congress president Rahul Gandhi will formally launch the election campaign of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala on March 14, even as disagreements over candidate selection in the state remains unresolved.</p>.<p>The inauguration will begin with Rahul attending a Congress rally in Kozhikode district in north Kerala.</p>.<p>He is also scheduled to visit the families of Pulwama terror strike martyr Vasantha Kumar in Wayanad district and two Youth Congress workers murdered allegedly by CPM workers in Kasaragod.</p>.<p>He will also inaugurate a National Fishermen Congress in Thrissur district.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF is yet to finalise it candidates for a majority of seats, even as the name of former chief minister Oommen Chandy is doing the rounds for Idukki.</p>.<p>AICC general secretary and sitting MP of Alappuzha K C Venugopal is already out of the fray. There are also rumours that Oommen Chandy is keen on debuting his son, Chandy Oommen, an active member of the Youth Congress.</p>.<p>A strong tussle is also on for the Ernakulam constituency, as sitting MP K V Thomas is keen for another term while local MLA Hibi Eden is also a strong contender.</p>.<p>Even though the formal announcement is yet to come, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has launched a campaign in Thiruvananthapuram sitting seat, eyeing a hat-trick.</p>.<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p>Congress sources said the party is trying to finalise candidates at least by Wednesday, ahead of launch of the campaign by Rahul on Thursday.</p><p>Another headache to the UDF in the in-fighting in Kerala Congress (M), a key coalition partner. The P J Joseph faction and the K M Mani faction are both staking claims for the Kottayam seat. Thomas Chazikadan, a former party MLA, may emerge as a compromise candidate.</p></div></div>
