Kottayam: Jose K Mani-led outfit of the Kerala Congress is set to release its list of candidates for the 13 legislative assembly seats it has been allowed by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) for the April 6 state polls. Though candidates have been finalised for nearly half of the seats, discussions on Kaduthuruthy, Ranni, and Piravom seats are still underway.
The candidates would be declared after the parliamentary party meet on Wednesday, party chairman Jose K Mani said.
The candidate selection has been completed for the Pala, Idukki, Kanjirappally, Thodupuzha, Changanassery, Poonjar, Chalakudy, Kuttiadi, Irikkur, and Perumbavoor seats without any disputes.
A consensus has been reached over these 10 seats, but no candidates could be finalised for three seats - Kaduthuruthy, Piravom and Ranni.
The candidate short-list, which was prepared after considering the suggestions from the block committees, was taken up for discussions during the steering committee of the Kerala Congress (Mani) party on Tuesday.
The meeting decided to field Dennis K Antony for the Chalakudy seat. Dennis had resigned from his post as the Congress block secretary and joined the Kerala Congress (M). A Koratty native, Dennis was the former president of the Chalakudy block panchayat.
The candidatures of Job Michael in Changanassery and Sebastian Kulathunkal, former district panchayat president, at Poonjar, have been confirmed.
The three seats yet to be settled
For Kaduthuruthy, a party stronghold, Stephen George and Dr Sindhumol Jacob are front-runners. There is discontentment within the party over Sindhumol's proposed candidature. Former district panchayat president Zacharias Kuthiravelil, district panchayat member Jose Puthenkala, and Cyriac Chazhikadan have staked claim for the seat.
Sindhumol could be considered for Piravom if she is not slotted for Kaduthuruthy. However, the preference is for Jils Periyapuram in Piravom. But the decision would be based on the candidate selection in Kaduthuruthy.
In Ranni, state general secretary Pramod Narayanan and district president N M Raju get the precedence. The CPM, the leading party of the LDF, is also keenly following the candidate selection in Ranni. Another person, a youth, is also under consideration.
