5 ministers not to contest upcoming Assembly elections, says CPM state secretariat

Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran, C Raveendranath, EP Jayarajan and AK Balan will refrain from contesting in the polls. Others in the cabinet including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are likely to enter the fray.

Thiruvananthapuram: CPM state secretariat has decided that five of the ministers need not contest the upcoming Assembly elections. Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran, C Raveendranath, EP Jayarajan and AK Balan will refrain from contesting in the polls.

Others in the cabinet including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are likely to enter the fray.

The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly in 14 districts will be held in a single phase on April 6.

The tenure of the 14th Kerala legislative assembly will come to an end on June 1, 2021. A total of 2,67,88,268 electors will elect the candidates in Kerala for the 15th legislative assembly. For Assembly poll 2021, the number of polling booths in Kerala has been extended from 21,498 to 40,771.

The counting of votes will be held on May 2. According to the commission, of the 140 Assembly seats, 14 seats are reserved for the SC category and two are reserved for ST category candidates.

In the 2016 Kerala assembly election, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) bagged 91 seats in 140-member Assembly. The BJP opened its account for the first time from the Nemom constituency, where BJP veteran O.Rajagopal won the seat.

In the 2019 general elections, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition has registered a remarkable victory with wins in 19 out of the 20 parliamentary constituencies.