Lok Sabha polls: CPM announces candidates for all 15 seats
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday announced its candidates for 15 more Lok Sabha seats. A few days ago the Communist Party of India (CPI), ally of CPM in Left Democratic Front (LDF), released the list of candidates in five seats and with today's announcement front's all 20 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls have been finalized.
The announcement was made by Party State Secretary MV Govindan at a press conference. Here is the candidate list:
- Kasaragod- M V Balakrishnan
- Kannur- MV Jayarajan
- Vadakara- K. K. Shailaja
- Kozhikode- Elamaram Kareem
- Malappuram- V. Wasif
- Ponnani- K S Hams
- Attingal- V Joy
- Kollam- M.Mukesh
- Pathanamthitta- Thomas Isaac
- Alappuzha- A M Ariff
- Kochi- K J Shine
- Idukki- Joyce George
- Palakkad- A Vijayaraghavan
- Chalakudy- C Ravindranath
- Alathur- K Radhakrishnan
In a notable move, the Left party nominated four of its sitting MLAs, including Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan, to contest in key constituencies. Thomas Isaac and Shailaja, both political heavyweights, are set to try their luck in the coming general elections. Actor-turned MLA Mukesh and V Joy have also been chosen to contest the LS polls. Additionally, two sitting MPs, A M Arif (Lok Sabha) and Elamaram Kareem (Rajya Sabha), have been included in the candidate list.
Announcing the list of candidates during a press conference held here, party state secretary M V Govindan said the upcoming general election is crucial for the country.
Underscoring that keeping the BJP out of power was the main agenda of secular democratic forces during the Lok Sabha polls, he said that an anti-BJP wave had already been formed in the country.
Alliances have been forged in many states based on the political equations there, with the objective to defeat the saffron party, Govindan said.
The LDF's secular politics is the only alternative to the "extreme Hindu majoritarianism" proposed by the BJP and the "soft Hindutva" stand of the Congress, he added.
Exuding confidence that the party candidates would win all the 20 seats, the Left leader said the Rahul Gandhi factor, which had helped the Congress party win substantial number of seats during the 2019 poll, would not favour them this time.
Although the CPI(M) is part of the INDIA bloc along with the Congress, the Left party's state secretary did not hold back when he claimed that no one in Kerala believed that Rahul Gandhi would become the next prime minister.
Under the present political scenario, the PM candidate can be decided only after all the secular and democratic parties come together and defeat the BJP.
"The present political circumstance in the country does not favour deciding on the prime ministerial candidate in advance," Govindan said.
Asked if Gandhi would contest from Wayanad again, the Left leader said choosing a constituency is the decision of respective parties. But, if the slogan is to defeat the BJP, the Congress leader should contest from the Hindi belt, he suggested.
"For that, there is no need to come to Kerala...because the BJP is not going to win a single seat in the state," he said.
Govindan also rubbished Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the saffron party would win seats in two digits, saying that such announcements were essential for the BJP leaders to contest in the state.
With PTI inputs