Kerala Assembly elections: K Sudhakaran decides not to contest from Kannur seat
Party’s second candidate list delayed amid internal tensions; many Congress MPs keen on contesting Assembly polls
Senior Congress leader K. Sudhakaran has declared that he is loyal to the party and will not leave the Congress. He made it clear that he will continue to remain in the Congress, that the party is paramount, and that he will not contest as an independent candidate. He was speaking to the media in Delhi, breaking his silence after two days of disputes and uncertainty over the candidate announcement for the Kannur constituency.
There had been a sharp standoff for two days between the Congress High Command and K. Sudhakaran over the Kannur seat in the Assembly elections. Sudhakaran took a firm stance that he wanted the Kannur seat and was not ready to compromise on the matter.
The Congress leadership was grappling with the question of whether to allow MPs to contest the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls and this has held up the party's second list of candidates for the state. The Congress is also learnt to have worked overnight to pacify its member of Parliament from Kannur, K Sudhakaran, who was miffed after his name was not cleared by the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) for contesting the Kerala polls.
V D Satheesan firm
Leader of Opposition in Kerala V D Satheesan is learnt to have strongly opposed any move to allow MPs to contest the Assembly polls in the southern state.
Sources also said at least five MPs, including Attingal MP Adoor Prakash, also a former minister in Kerala, are keen to contest the Assembly polls.
Besides, Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha Kodikunnil Suresh and Lok Sabha MPs from Vadakara and Kozhikode Shafi Parambil and M K Raghavan are also hoping to try their luck in the upcoming polls, even though they have remained silent so far and not spoken openly about it. However, they would abide by the party's decision, the sources said.
They added that Venugopal, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, organisation, may also be interested in having a key role in Kerala if the party comes to power in the state, but has not spoken about this so far.
The Congress has declared its first list of 55 candidates for Kerala. It is contesting 92 seats in the state.
The last date for filing nominations for the Kerala polls is March 23. The polling will be held on April 9 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 4. The tenure of the current Kerala Assembly ends on May 23.
(With Agency inputs)