The CPM announced a list of 83 candidates, including nine independents, for the 2021 Assembly elections ignoring the local uprisings in constituencies like Kuttiyadi, Ponnani and Ranni.

Kuttiyadi and Ranni, both sitting seats of CPM, has been handed over to Kerala Congress (Mani). In Ponnani, P Nandakumar, a national-level CITU leader, has been chosen brushing aside the sustained and vigorous protests mounted by the local CPM cadres in Ponnani. Down south in Aruvikkara, the more popular choice of V K Madhu, the former Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat secretary, was dumped in favour of G Stephen, who is CPM's Kattakada area secretary.

The CPM and independents backed by it will actually contest from 85 constituencies. Candidates of two constituencies, Manjeshwaram (Kasaragod) and Devikulam (Idukki) where talks are still on, will be decided later. The CPM acting state secretary A Vijayaraghavan, while announcing the list, said the party had sacrificed seven of its seats, including five sitting seats, to accommodate new allies KC(M) and Lokatantrik Janata Dal.

"The candidate list was prepared keeping in mind a continuation of the development works under the LDF government," Vijayaraghavan said.

Before announcing the list Vijayaraghavan also lambasted the Congress and BJP over targeting the ruling LDF using the gold smuggling scam.

In what is seen as a sign of the CPM's confidence, the party that is attempting a historic second term has kept out some of its veterans and top performers in favour of new faces.

Almost strictly applying the two-term rule, the CPM has struck out 33 sitting MLAs from the candidate list. This includes five ministers: finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, PWD minister G Sudhakaran, industries minister E P Jayarajan, education minister C Raveendranath and culture minister A K Balan.

Matsyafed chairman P P Chitharanjan will replace Isaac in Alappuzha. H Salam will come in place of Sudhakaran in Ambalappuzha. K K Shailaja will contest from Jayarajan's Mattannur. In Balan's Tirur, CPM will back an independent Gafoor P Lillees.

There will be eight candidates from the CPM state secretariat, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (Dharmadom) and three ministers, K K Shailaja (Mattannoor), T P Ramakrishnan (Perambra) and M M Mani (Udumbanchola). The other state committee members are: M V Govindan (Taliparambu), K Radhakrishnan (Chelakkara), P Rajeev (Kalamssery) and K N Balagopal (Kottarakkara).

There will be 12 women among the candidates and four below the age of 30 (Jaick C Thomas, K M Sachin Dev, Linto Joseph, P Mithun). Of the 83 candidates announced, 42 are degree holders and 28 of them are lawyers.

In terms of age, there are four candidates below the age of 30, eight between the ages of 30 and 40, 13 in the ages between 41 asnd 50, 33 between 51 and 60, and 24 above 60.

The candidates are:

Kasaragod

Manjeshwaram- Yet to be decided

Udma- CH Kunhambu

Thrikaripur- M Rajagopal

Kannur

Taliparamba- M V Govindan

Azhikode- K V Sumesh

Dharmadom- Pinarayi Vijayan

Thalassery- A N Shamseer

Mattanur- K K Shailaja

Peravoor- Zakeer Hussain

Kalliasseri- M Vijin

Payyanur- TA Madhusoodhanan

Wayanad

Mananthavady- O R Kelu

Sulthan Bathery- M S Viswanathan

Kozhikode

Koyilandy- Kanathil Jameela

Perambra- TP Ramakrishnan

Balussery- Sachin Dev

Kozhikode North- Thottathil Raveendran

Beypore- P A Mohammed Riyas

Kunnamangalam- P T A Rahim

Koduvally- Karat Razak

Thiruvambady- Linto Joseph

Malappuram

Kondotty- Suleiman Haji

Nilambur- P V Anwar

Wandoor- P Mithun

Perinthalmanna- Muhammed Musthafa

Mankada- Rasheed Ali

Vengara- Jiji

Tanur- Abdurahman

Thavanur- KT Jaleel

Ponnani- P Nandakumar

Palakkad

Thrithala- MB Rajesh

Shornur- P Mummykutty

Ottapalam- Premkumar

Kongad- K Santhakumari

Malampuzha- A Prabhakaran

Palakkad- CP Pramod

Tarur- PP Sumod

Nenmara- K Babu

Alathur- KD Prasenan

Thrissur

Chelakkara- K Radhakrishnan

Kunnamkulam- AC Moideen

Guruvayur- Akbar

Manalur- Murali Perunelli

Wadakkanchery- Xavier Chittilapally

Irinjalakuda- Dr R Bindu

Puthukkad- K K Ramachandran

Ernakulam

Aluva- Shelna Nishad

Kalamassery- P Rajeev

Vypin- K N Unnikrishnan

Kochi- K G Maxi

Thrippunithura- M Swaraj

Ernakulam- Shaji George

Thrikkakara- Dr J Jacob

Kunnathunad- PV Sreenijan

Kothamangalam- Antony John

Idukki

Devikulam- Yet to be decided

Udumbanchola- M M Mani

Kottayam

Ettumanoor- VN Vassavan

Kottayam- K Anil Kumar

Puthuppally- Jaick C Thomas

Alappuzha

Aroor- Daleema Jojo

Alappuzha- PP Chitharanjan

Ambalappuzha- H Salam

Kayamkulam- U Pratibha

Mavelikara- M S Arunkumar

Chengannur- Saji Cherian

Pathanamthitta

Aranmula- Veena George

Konni- KU Janeesh Kumar

Kollam

Chavara- Dr Sujith Vijayan

Kottarakkara- KN Balakrishnan

Kundara- J Mercykutty Amma

Kollam- M Mukesh

Eravipuram- M Noushad

Thiruvananthapuram

Varkala- V Joy

Attingal- OS Ambika

Vamanapuram- D K Murali

Kazhakkoottam- Kadakampally Surendran

Vattiyoorkavu- VK Prashanth

Nemom- V Sivankutty

Aruvikkara- G Stephan

Parassala- C K Hareendran

Kattakkada- IB Satheesh

Neyyattinkara- K Ansalan

With this, the ruling LDF is all set for the poll battle as major parties in the alliances have declared their candidates for most of the seats just before the Election Commission of India is scheduled to issue the formal notification for the Kerala Assembly Election, 2021.

On Tuesday, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second biggest party in the LDF, had declared its candidates for 21 out of the 25 seats in its share. The other key LDF constituents Janata Dal (Secular) and the Nationalist Congress Party also announced their candidate lists for the Assembly elections on Tuesday.

Jose K Mani-led outfit of the Kerala Congress on Wednesday announced 12 candidates of the 13 seats that it is allotted for the April 6 polls. The candidate for the Kuttiyadi seat will be announced after discussions with the CPM.

The CPM, the leading party of the LDF, is ahead of its allies in terms of seat share in all districts, except Kottayam district, where Kerala Congress (Mani) has been granted five out of the nine assembly constituencies.