The three main political formations in the State have begun informal discussions for the selection of candidate for the Vengara byelection to be held on October 11.
The Left Democratic Front State committee, which met here on Friday, decided to postpone its 15-day jatha slated to begin from October 3 in view of the byelection. The campaign will restart after the byelection.
It had been originally decided that CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran would lead the north and south legs of the jatha to conclude on October 15. The exact date of the new campaign will be decided by the LDF taking into account the fact that both the CPI(M) and the CPI had launched their party conferences.
In the meantime, the CPI(M) State secretariat, which met here on Friday, decided to announce the candidate for the seat on Tuesday. The Malappuram district committee is meeting on Saturday and the candidate will be announced after seeking its opinion, according to party sources.
LDF convener Vaikom Viswan said in a statement after the committee meeting that the byelection convention will be held at 3 p.m. on September 23.
The Indian Union Muslim League is scheduled to announce its candidate on Tuesday after the UDF high-power committee gave its formal green signal. The UDF will hold its election convention on September 20, followed by panchayat conventions on September 23. The Malappuram UDF liaison committee will meet on September 23.
The BJP said that it would announce its candidates in the next couple of days after the BJP and NDA district committee meetings. The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has already announced its candidate.