Thiruvananthapuram: CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan was picked as a candidate for the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency as he was a victim of the politics of murder, party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said. He said that Jayarajan's sutured palm was a symbol of Kerala's resistance to political violence.
Jayarajan, who survived a bid on his life by RSS workers who barged into his house in August 1999, has been accused of planning the murder of a Muslim League worker in 2012. His choice as the CPM's candidate in Vadakara raised several eyebrows but the party chief in Kerala defended the selection saying that Jayarajan had never been convicted in any cases raised against him.
Kodiyeri fielded questions from reporters after he announced the party candidates for the Lok Sabha election.
The Left Democratic Front has fielded six sitting MLAs, including two from the CPI. Have you changed your earlier stance that byelections were a waste of resources?
The party has no difficulty in facing a byelection. Many MLAs have contested Lok Sabha elections. M A Baby was an MLA when he ran for Parliament last time. We prioritised the candidate's chances of winning. We zeroed in on candidates who could increase the tally of Left members in Parliament.
The list does not have too many youngsters. SFI national president V P Sanu has been assigned to Malappuram, a Muslim League bastion.
Youngsters are chosen to storm the bastions. Suresh Kurup was an SFI leader when he won from Kottayam.
The CPM has even fielded its district secretaries. Do you want to appoint a temporary secretary in an important district such as Kannur?
I appreciate your concern for Kannur. We will do the needful. The district will have a permanent secretary. This is not the first time a district secretary has faced an election.
Even after the pro-woman signals surrounding the 'women's wall', the list has only two women.
There is a change, that both have a high chance of winning the seats. It was not the case last time. We wanted to consider more women but we had to pick the most winnable candidates.
P V Anwar, MLA, as a candidate could be controversial.
The party has considered and rejected all those arguments. They will have no bearing in the election.
BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan has resigned as Mizoram governor to contest the election from Thiruvananthapuram.
Forget Kummanam, even Narendra Modi won't be enough to win a seat from Kerala. Modi or Amit Shah could have contested. Why did they made Kummanam resign?
Is P Sasi back in the district committee?
That is old news. You were just late in reporting it.
While all sitting MPs have been given another chance, P Karunakaran was left out. Why?
He had won three consecutive terms from Kasaragod. Now he is needed on the organisational front.
Even A Sampath has won three times from Attingal.
But he was not chosen for three straight times.
Why did you choose Innocent despite objections from the Chalakkudi local committee of the Left Democratic Front?
There were no objections. That is a baseless report.
Are the allies disappointed?
Once the list is out, all the 20 candidates belong to the LDF.