Alappuzha: With her candidature finalised on Friday, 91-year-old K.R. Gouri Amma has made history in Kerala's electoral politics by becoming the only candidate to contest all the assembly elections since the state first went to polls in 1957. The leader of the Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS) will contest the April 13 elections from Cherthala constituency in Alappuzha district.
Gouri Amma's long political career began with the Communist Party of India. She was a minister in the first Communist government led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad which was voted to power in Kerala in 1957.
When the party split in the mid-sixties, Gouri Amma joined the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). She was expelled from the party in 1994 after which she launched the JSS and allied with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Gouri Amma was also a minister in the A.K Antony-led government in 2001. She has lost the assembly elections only twice - in 1997 and 2006.
K.K. Shaju, the lone JSS legislator in the present assembly, told IANS on Friday that the decision on Gouri Amma's candidature was unanimous. "She is returning to Cherthala, where she won in the first and second Kerala assembly. She is fully geared to fight the polls," said Shaju.
Gouri Amma will face sitting Communist Party of India (CPI) legislator P. Thilothiman. Defence Minister A.K. Antony had won from this constituency in 1970, 1996 and 2001.
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