CPI nominates Binoy Viswam as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Kerala; poll to be held on 21 June

New Delhi: The CPI on Tuesday said Binoy Viswam will be its candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Kerala. “The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India has accepted the recommendation of the Kerala State Council and announces Binoy Viswam as the CPI candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Kerala,” party general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_4497347” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Binoy Viswam. Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Viswam, a minister in the previous LDF government in Kerala, started his political carrier as a student leader and worked as general secretary of the AISF, the student wing of the CPI. He was known for his efficiency as a minister and has been elected as one of the secretaries of the CPI in the recently held 23rd Party Congress, Reddy said. The Election Commission had announced polls to three Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala last month. These include the one held by Upper House Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien. It will fall vacant on 1 July. The election would be held on 21 June, the poll panel had said. Kurien (Congress), Joy Abraham (Kerala Congress-M) and CP Narayanan (CPM) are retiring on 1 July. Of the nine RS seats in the state, three each are held by Congress and CPM and one each by Kerala Congress-M, IUML and an Independent member.