Kerala to witness several key contests

Thiruvananthapuram: Battle lines have been clearly drawn with the two fronts led by Communist Party of India-Marxist and Congress releasing their list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala which is poised to witness key contests in most seats.

One of the most keenly-watched contest will be in the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram where the Congress, heading the United Democratic Front (UDF), has fielded former under secretary general of United Nations, Shashi Tharoor, to wrest the constituency from the CPI, which is a part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The state capital is likely to witness a three-way race with the BJP seriously considering fielding former Union minister O Rajagopal.

Prominent contestants include Indian Union Muslim League's National President and Union Minister, E Ahamed, in Malappuram, where he is taking on CPI-M's sitting MP TK Hamsa.

Malappuram is the only constituency where sitting MPs are locking horns.

The list of Congress announced last night had several surprises with the contestants including three sitting MLAs, but contrary to what the party had promised, youth and women did not receive sufficient representation.

Kerala has 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The CPI-M, on the other hand, has chosen quite a few young candidates, most of whom are still office-bearers of its youth wings DYFI and SFI.

The sitting CPI-M MPs back in the fray are P Karunakaran (Kasargode), P Sathidevi (Vatakara), TK Hamsa (Malappuram), Suresh Kurup (Kottayam) and P Rajendran (Kollam) and KS Manoj (Alappuzha).

CPI has dropped all its three sitting MPs choosing new faces such as P Ramachandran Nair (Thiruvananthapuram), RS Anil (Mavelikkara-SC) and CN Jayadevan (Thrissur).

M Rahmathulla, who contested but lost on CPI ticket in Ponnani last time, is now seeking election in Wayanad.

The lone woman to get Congress ticket is State Mahila Congress chief Shanimol Usman in Kasargode. But she has refused to accept the constituency allotted to her.

The Congress list is also bereft of any political heavyweights from the state.

While senior leader and Defence Minister AK Antony opted out of the race well before the polls were announced, Union Minister Vayalar Ravi was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha.

The mid-ranking leaders like Mullapally Ramachandran, VM Sudheeran, KPCC President Ramesh Cehnnithala, KPCC Vice-President Thalekunnil Basheer are also not in the electoral fight.