Thiruvananthapuram: Amid intense speculation over the Congress candidate from Nemom, some TV reports suggested that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has expressed his willingness to contest from the constituency during the screening committee meetings.
Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala also said he is ready to contest from Nemom if the high-command decides so.
A final decision in this regard will be made after a discussion with Sonia Gandhi and the list of candidates will be announced on Friday.
Refusing to confirm the report, Chandy said he has been contesting from Puthuppally for the past 50 years, and said he is unaware of the report about him shifting to Nemom.
"You (media) create news and then ask for answers. I have not said anything to anyone and I do not know how you people get these information," Chandy, who is busy in Delhi finalising the list of candidates, said while responding to a question on whether he would heed to high-command if asked to contest from Nemom.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the Congress would have a foolproof strategy in Nemom to defeat the BJP. He added that a final decision on the candidate in Nemom has not been made.
BJP had opened its account in the State Assembly when O Rajagopal wrested Nemom from the CPM in 2016. The first and the lone BJP member in the Assembly, the former Union minister had then defeated former Thiruvananthapuram city Mayor V Sivankutty by a margin of 8,671 votes.
The past few days, the ruling CPM has been going hammer and tongs that there is a secret pact between the Congress and the BJP.
Amid this, there have been murmurs from various quarters in the Congress that the party should field a strong candidate from Nemom and since Thursday morning the names of Lok Sabha member K. Muraleedharan, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and lastly the name of Chandy has been flashed over and over in the almost dozen TV channels in the state.
A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision to field a strong candidate at Nemom has been in the cards for a while because the CPM has been taunting them for allowing the BJP to grow in the state, in a tactical move to get the Muslim votes.
"The Congress party is aiming to field very strong candidates in two constituencies in the state capital, of which one is Nemom and the other is Vatiyoorkavu. This is to send the political message that what the CPM is propagating is baseless and just meant to see if they can get Muslim votes. So one will have to wait a day more to see," the top Congress leader said.
While the CPM has decided to field Sivankutty, the BJP has decided that since Rajagopal is past 90 years, it would be most likely its former state President Kummanam Rajasekheran who would enter the fray.
And not to leave anyone guessing, the TV channels have been flashing the news, if Chandy shifts base to Puthupally which he has been winning from 1970, that seat would be given to his son Chandy Oommen.
The Congress will announce its candidates for the April 6 Assembly polls on Friday evening after a meeting of its central election committee at 6pm.
