The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s [CPI(M)] push for a second innings in power appears to outweigh the party’s principled decision not to assign seats to party workers who have contested more than three Assembly elections. The stress on the victory factor has opened the door for most CPI(M) Ministers to get the party ticket. It has also paved the way for the return of party veterans such as V. Sivankutty to the electoral fray.
Ranjith dropped
Illustratively, the CPI(M) has ‘decided’ to run A. Pradeep Kumar, MLA, for the fourth consecutive time. It has dropped film director Renjith, whom the CPI(M) Kozhikode district committee had reportedly considered for the seat tentatively.
By some accounts, B. Sathyan, who represents the Attingal Scheduled Caste reservation constituency, is unlikely to contest again. The party is likely to announce its list of candidates soon.
It is currently weighing the panel of names sent by various district committees. The State committee is striving to strike a balance between experience and youth to present an appealing assemblage of candidates to voters. Moreover, caste, gender, age and other demographics will be factored in for the selection process.
Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K. Mani held closed-door meetings with CPI(M) leaders at the AKG Centre here. He refused to reveal details and merely said the discussions were satisfactory. The KC(M) has reportedly demanded 12 seats. But, the CPI(M) anticipates a climbdown.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) State council met here on Wednesday. It has directed district committees to submit a panel of potential candidates. The party had announced it would not allocate seats to those who had contested two times or more.
