THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran has cleared the air on speculations about him contesting the assembly election. In the third election committee meeting of the KPCC held on Tuesday, Ramachandran said he will not be contesting the poll.
Ramachandran, who had informed this to the party high-command a few days ago, told the meeting that he was not willing to contest and his sole aim is to see UDF coming back in power. The announcement made by the KPCC president in the meeting was a surprise to many.
The K Sudhakaran camp has been lobbying for Ramachandran to contest in the election since Sudhakaran was eyeing the KPCC president post. All the speculations have ended with Ramachandran making clear his stance.
“I will not be doing justice to the KPCC president post if I contest the election. If I do so, I will be confined to one constituency. My intention is to bring back the UDF to power, for which I will have to campaign in all the 140 constituencies. Even though the party high-command had given me the permission to contest, I am staying away from it,” Ramachandran told TOI.
Soon senior leaders like V M Sudheeran and P J Kurien have also made it clear in the meeting that they were keeping away from the fray. Sudheeran even said in the meeting that those who have served as MLAs for 25 years should refrain from the parliamentary politics and give way for young faces.
MP K Muraleedharan also said that he would not be contesting in the assembly election. “The party has taken a decision that no MPs should be contesting in the assembly poll. Hence, there is no need for any such speculations any more. I will be going to New Delhi for attending the parliamentary session. I will be back only after the last date for filing the nominations,” said Muraleedharan.
However, the candidate selection in the party has become a tough task as several aspirants have started intense lobbying for the seats. Most of the leaders who have contested several times for the party pushing again for the seats has become a severe headache for the party leadership.
Even though the KPCC was intending to announce the candidate list in the first week of this month, it is highly unlikely that it will happen this week. The KPCC leaders are planning to leave for New Delhi only next week for discussion with the party high command to finalize the candidates.