Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six of his Cabinet colleagues have been fielded by the ruling CPI(M) for the April 6 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 CPI(M) supported independents. Health Minister K K Shailaja, Labour minister T P Ramakrishnan, Power minister M M Mani, Devaswom minister Kadakkampally Surendran, Fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma and Local Self Government minister A C Moideen are trying their luck once again.
Vijayan will contest from Dharmadam constituency in Kannur district. However, five ministers have been denied seats -- T M Thomas Isaac, E P Jayarajan, R Ravindranath, G Sudhakaran and A K Balan as the party decided not to provide seats to those who had been elected twice. M V Govindan Master, K Radhakrishan, P Rajeev and K N 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 here.
The party's aim was not to deny tickets to anyone, but to give an opportunity to new candidates, he said. The CPI(M) 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.
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