Will minister E P Jayarajan contest this time ? Will there be a change in the constituency of health minister K K Shialaja ? Is there a possibility of P Jayarajan entering the electoral fray ? These are some of the key questions being raised in Kannur CPM.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is all set to contest again from Dharmadam constituency. With the CPM led LDF having set the target for "mission repeat", the chief minister would lead the ruling front's campaign. CPM sources said that politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who has gone on leave from the state secretary post, may not contest this time.
The question whether E P Jayrajan will contest elections has been raised in the context of the industry minister being considered for CPM state secretary’s post. He will stay out of the electoral contest only if such a possibility emerges.
Health minister K K Shailaja’s constituency is Koothuparamba from where Veerendrakumar's LJD used to contest. With LJD now in LDF, the CPM may have to leave the seat for them. In such a scenario Shailaja teacher will be moved to a new constituency and E P Jayarajan's Mattanur could be one of the options.
T V Rajesh, the sitting MLA of Kalliasseri may not contest this time as per party's norm of not fielding candidates who have won back to back from the same constituency. He would require special permission from the party to contest. If that does not happen, then Jayarajan whose house is located in the constituency, may leave Mattanur and contest from Kalliasseri. In that case, Shailaja would try her luck from Mattannur.
It is not clear whether the CPM would move Shailaja to Peravoor to wrest its old stronghold. It will depend on the party whether it will be ready for the gamble of experimenting with Shailaja in UDF strongholds like Peravoor.
C Krishnan from Payyanur and James Mathew from Taliparamba who have been MLAs for two consecutive terms, may not contest this time. The names of former district panchayat president K V Sumesh and CPM district secretariat member T A Madhusoodhanan are doing the rounds as their replacement.
Many say some surprises in the candidate list of CPM with the objective of wrestling UDF seats is not ruled out. But there is still no clarity whether former Kannur district secretary and CPM state committee member P Jayarajan would be in the electoral fray.
Bringing central committee member M V Govindan into the parliamentary arena is not ruled out either.
