Malappuram: The stage is set for the Malappuram Lok Sabha bypoll campaigning with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) declaring its candidate and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) reaching an agreement over the candidate.

The NDA had announced on Monday that the BJP national vice-president A P Abdullakutty would be its candidate in the Malappuram bypoll.

Last year's Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate V P Sanu is likely to enter the poll fray again, sources indicate. And when the United Democratic Front (UDF) too declaring its candidate, the campaigning would heat up.

A former MP from Kannur, A P Abdullakutty is gearing up for another Lok Sabha battle in Malappuram. He is a native of Narath in the Kannur district. While he was with the CPM, he had twice defeated the current Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran. He later joined the Congress and became an MLA.

The official announcement of the LDF candidate is likely to be made tomorrow. As only the name of V P Sanu has been put forth, his candidature is almost confirmed. This would be the second poll battle for Sanu, the SFI national president.

In the UDF, the seat is allotted to the IUML. The name of national senior vice-president M P Abdussamad Samadani is doing the rounds but no official decision has been made yet.