Kerala Assembly polls: CPM releases list of 83 candidates; Pinarayi Vijayan, six ministers in fray

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six of his cabinet colleagues have been fielded by the ruling CPI(M) for the 6 April state Assembly elections, while Finance minister Thomas Issac has been denied a ticket this time. The party on Wednesday released the list of 83 of its 85 candidates, including nine CPM-supported Independents. Health minister KK Shailaja, Labour minister TP Ramakrishnan, Power minister MM Mani, Devaswom minister Kadakkampally Surendran, Fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma and Local Self Government minister AC Moideen are trying their luck once again. Vijayan will contest from Dharmadam constituency in Kannur district. However, five ministers — TM Thomas Isaac, EP Jayarajan, R Ravindranath, G Sudhakaran and AK Balan — have been denied tickets as the party decided not to provide seats to those who had been elected twice. MV Govindan Master, K Radhakrishan, P Rajeev and KN Balagopal are the state secretariat members who are contesting.  There are 12 women candidates in the list. Candidates for Manjeshwaram and Devikulam constituencies would be announced later, acting state secretary, A Vijayaraghavan, told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. The party’s aim was not to deny tickets to anyone, but to give an opportunity to new candidates, he said. The CPM-led LDF is eyeing a second consecutive term this time. In the 2016 polls, the LDF had won 91 seats in the 140-member Assembly.