15 left in bypoll fray

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fifteen candidates are left in the fray for the byelection on June 2 at Neyyatinkara. On Saturday, the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers, one more independent candidate has withdrawn from the race. Only one woman, Laila Surendran, 50, is contesting as an independent like nine others.Apart from the mainstream parties such as the CPM, Congress and the BJP, candidates from the Republican Party of India (A) and the Socialist Party (India) are also contesting.In the recent bypoll at Piravom, there were only nine candidates in the fray where three of them were independents and two among the independents were women.Both the candidates of the UDF and the LDF have two ‘namesakes’ each in Neyyattinkara. In the case of CPM candidate F Lawrence, the ‘namesakes’ are J Lawrence and T Lawrence, both independents.Congress candidate R Selvaraj has T Selvaraj and Selvaraj, both independents, as ‘namesakes’ to confuse the voters.BJP candidate O Rajagopal 82, is the oldest among contestants while an independent Selvaraj, 36, is the youngest. J R Livingston Rose, 71, an independent, is second to Rajagopal in age.Congress candidate R Selvaraj is 63, while T Selvaraj is 51. CPM candidate F Lawrence is 50, while L Lawrence is 47 and T Lawrence, 60.