Keralam

23 Mar 2011

Battlelines have been drawn in Kerala for the Arpil 13 Assembly polls with Congress, the main partner in UDF, also announcing its list of candidates in 81 constituencies it is contesting in the 140-member House. CPM headed LDF is way ahead in their campaign as the Front had already begun its first round of campaign after deciding the candidates and publishing the Front's manifesto last week. Posters and flex boards with pictures of LDF candidates have been put up in all the constituencies while the UDF's election work is yet to start.
Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and star campaigner for LDF has already hit the campaign trail from Malampuzha in Palakkad district, from where he is contesting. The 87-year old CPM veteran is getting enthusiastic reception in all the centres in the northern districts, CPM's stronghold. With the announcement of the Congress list of candidates, the UDF campaign is expected to pick up in the coming days as uncertainty over seat-sharing of the Front partners has been settled.Congress has come up with quite a few surprises in its selection of candidates by naming several new faces including seven women.

Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will contest from his traditional seat of Puthupalli in Kottayam district while KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala from Haripad in Alappuzha. K Muraleedharan, former KPCC President and son of late K Karunakaran, who was taken back in the party after six years of suspension, was given ticket to contest from Vattiyurkavu in the state capital. However, his younger sister Padmaja Venugopal, who was also an aspirant, has been denied seat this time, with an explanation that her services would be used for party activities.

Congress has nominated Lathika Subhash, a Mahila congress leader, against Achuthanandan. All the 23 sitting MLAs have been renominated to contest from their respective sitting seats, though some segments have been renamed after delimitation. Congress's youth wing, Kerala Students Union President Shafi Paambil will contest from Palakkad. The State Youth Congress president P C Vishumath has been renominated from Chengannur. Besides Lathika, the Congress women candidates are Thankamani Divakaran (Attingal), Indira (Kalliassery), Shaheeda Kamal (Chadaymangalam), Bidu Krishna (Chathanoor), Shantha Jayaram (Shoranur) and P K Jayalakshmi (Mananthavadi).

Except Socialist Janata Democratic and Communist Marxist Party (CMP), the other UDF partners--IUML, Kerala Congress (M), KC-Jacob, KC-B and JSS--have announced their list of candidates. Besides the main political players in Kerala, BJP, which is trying to open its account in the assembly, has started a vigorous campaign in all the 140 segments. The party is focussing on five seats including that of former Union Minister O Rajagopal who is contesting from Nemom in the state capital. BJP's top leaders, including Sushma Swaraj, are expected to arrive for campaigning in the coming days.