Kerala Assembly Elections | 5 Ministers, Speaker, 33 MLAs dropped from CPI(M) list

33 new faces, 12 women, Chief Minister, six Ministers, nine party-backed Independents among candidates for 83 segments

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six of his Cabinet colleagues have been fielded by the ruling CPI(M) for the April 6 State Assembly elections. There are 33 new faces on the candidate list.

Party acting State Secretary A. Vijayaraghavan on Wednesday released a list of 83 of its candidates including nine CPI(M)- supported Independents. The party would announce the candidates for Manjeswaram and Devikulam later.

Health Minister K.K. Shylaja, Labour Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan, Power Minister M.M. Mani, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma and Local Self-Government Minister A.C. Moideen are trying their luck once again. Mr. Vijayan will contest from Dharmadam in Kannur district.

Thirty-three incumbent legislators will not contest this time. Five Ministers — T.M. Thomas Isaac, E.P. Jayarajan, C. Ravindranath, G. Sudhakaran and A.K. Balan — and Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan have been denied the ticket.

M.V. Govindan, K. Radhakrishan, P. Rajeev and K.N. Balagopal are the State secretariat members who are contesting. As many as 12 women and 4 youngsters below the age of 30 years are among the candidates. Twenty-eight lawyers and 25 candidates below the age of 50 have found a place on the list. The candidates included 42 bachelor’s degree holders, 14 postgraduates, two doctorate holders, two doctors and one architect. SFI president V.P. Sanu will contest the Lok Sabha byelection on the CPI(M) ticket from Malappuram.

Party norms

Mr. Vijayaraghavan said the party had not excluded anyone. It considered Parliamentary work and organisational duties equally important. Governmental responsibility was neither the sole criterion for party work nor the only yardstick of political commitment. Organisational responsibilities were of paramount importance in the CPI(M).

The CPI(M) State committee had decided to pull out members who had contested the Assembly elections twice. It had decided to field an eclectic mix of youth, experience and professional expertise to create opportunities for fresh faces. Unlike the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, no anonymous power centre decided party affairs, Mr. Vijayaraghavan said.