Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The Communist Party of India (CPI) State Executive, Kerala has directed the party’s District Committees to submit a list of candidates who could be fielded in the Assembly elections.
The party’s Executive Committee which met on Wednesday has asked the district committees to submit a list of three possible candidates to each of the seats where the CPI had contested, in each district. It has been decided to avoid those who have been contesting for three times consecutively. As the party executive committee has decided to strictly adhere to this criterion while choosing candidates, the present CPI ministers in the Assembly V S Sunil Kumar, P Thilothaman, and K Raju will not have a chance this time.
This is besides the party’s general norm that those who have contested twice consecutively need not be given a seat again. However, considering the winning potential, certain candidates may be given relaxation. A final decision on these matters would be taken during the State Council meeting to be organised in the coming days.
An opinion had emerged during the Executive Committee meeting that the candidates who had won twice or thrice consecutively and has a winning probability may be given one more chance. Based on this criterion, Minister E Chandrashekaran, Deputy Speaker V Sasi, E K Vijayan, Chittayam Gopakumar, Geetha Gopi and G S Jayalal, may be included.
The final decision on candidate selection would be made after considering the suggestions from the respective District Committees. C Divakaran, Mullakkara Rathnakaran and E S Bijimol had also won thrice consecutively. It is being said that C Divakaran may be given one more chance if another good candidate could not be shortlisted in Nedumangad.
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