Lok Sabha elections: Factions prevail but some surprises

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress on Saturday night finalized the list of 12 candidates out of the 16 constituencies the party will be contesting in Kerala. Exclusion of seven-time MP K V Thomas and selection of firebrand leader Rajmohan Unnithan as the candidate for Kasaragod are the surprises in the list.

Ernakulam MLA Hibi Eden, whose candidature was sabotaged in the last minute by Thomas in 2009, will be the candidate for Ernakulam parliament constituency.

Even after day-long discussions held in different levels in New Delhi, the Congress leaders couldn’t reach a consensus on candidates for Attingal, Alappuzha, Vadakara and Wayanad constituencies. AICC president Rahul Gandhi will finalize the candidates for these constituencies and an announcement is expected on Sunday.

The first list of the Congress is a mix of experience and youth. Along with Hibi, Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose (Idukki) and Youth Congress leader Ramya Haridas (Alathur) found a place in the list. Sitting MPs Shashi Tharoor, Kodikkunnil Suresh, Anto Antony, M K Raghavan and ex-MP K Sudhakaran are the experienced hands in the list.

T N Prathapan was the unanimous choice for Thrissur and so was Benny Behannan for Chalakkudy seat. In Pathanamthitta, though there was stiff opposition against the candidature of Anto Antony, the high command cleared his name as Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala stood for him.

It was the dispute between Chandy and Chennithala that delayed the announcement of Wayanad candidate. Chandy was pitching for T Siddique but the ‘I’ group was not ready to give the sitting seat to an ‘A’ group nominee.

In Alappuzha, Shanimol Usman is learnt to have expressed unwillingness to contest and the party is planning to field MLA Adoor Prakash. Prakash’s name was almost finalized for Attingal but with uncertainty over Alappuzha, decision on Attingal was also put on hold. Sources said Usman’s name is being considered for Wayanad too.

It is also reliably learnt that, for Vadakara, sitting MP and KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran had suggested the name of Youth Congress leader and Kozhikode corporation councillor Vidya Balakrishnan. However, other leaders wanted a senior leader to take on CPM’s P Jayarajan here.

Earlier in the day, all efforts to field Chandy in the

Lok Sabha

election turned futile as he was not ready to yield to the high command’s pressure. Though leaders from Kerala urged the party high command to persuade him to contest from any of the constituencies in central Travancore, Chandy was not ready to discuss about it.

“Oommen Chandy is a kind of leader who can win from any seat in the state. But he has made it clear he wants to work in Kerala. Hence, he is not willing to contest,” said Chennithala after the screening committee meeting.

While Thomas said he was deeply hurt by the decision to deny him a ticket, the surprise entry of Unnithan in Kasaragod has upset the district Congress committee there. The name of Subbayya Rai was doing the rounds for Kasaragod until he was replaced by Unnithan.