The Congress high command on Sunday threw its weight behind Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to end the seven-day stand-off between him and Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran over denial of the ticket to five leaders, including three Ministers.
Mr. Chandy, who returned home on Saturday after the final round of talks failed, made it clear that he would remain out of the fray if the high command were to deny the ticket to Ministers K.C. Joseph, K. Babu and Adoor Prakash, Benny Behanan and Dominic Presentation. Now, 34 of the 39 sitting MLAs of the party will get the ticket.
Aryadan opts out of the race
Ministers Aryadan Mohammed and C.N. Balakrishnan opted out of the race.