New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) The Congress leadership is grappling with the question of whether to allow MPs to contest the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls and this has held up the party’s second list of candidates for the state, sources said on Thursday.
The Congress is also learnt to have worked overnight to pacify its member of Parliament from Kannur, K Sudhakaran, who is miffed after his name was not cleared by the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) for contesting the Kerala polls.
Sources said Sudhakaran was to address the media at the Kerala House in Delhi on Thursday and announce some decisions, but was pacified after the intervention of top leaders, including former defence minister and party veteran A K Antony.
The sources said after his name was not cleared by the party, Sudhakaran reportedly said “good bye” to K C Venugopal and some other leaders during telephonic conversations, putting the party on the spot.
Sudhakaran eventually did not address the media and the sources said he has been given some assurances by senior leaders.
The CEC has left it to the Congress high-command to take a call on whether to allow MPs to contest the upcoming Assembly elections or not.
If allowed, this will lead to Lok Sabha bypolls and the Congress leadership does not want to lose any seat in the Lower House of Parliament.
Leader of Opposition in Kerala V D Satheesan is learnt to have strongly opposed any move to allow MPs to contest the Assembly polls in the southern state.
The sources said Sudhakaran, a veteran Congress leader who has been a minister in Kerala in the past, is keen to contest the upcoming polls from the Kannur Assembly seat but the party is yet to take a call on the matter.
The sources also said at least five MPs, including Attingal MP Adoor Prakash, also a former minister in Kerala, are keen to contest the Assembly polls.
Besides, Congress’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha Kodikunnil Suresh and Lok Sabha MPs from Vadakara and Kozhikode Shafi Parambil and M K Raghavan are also hoping to try their luck in the upcoming polls, even though they have remained silent so far and not spoken openly about it. However, they would abide by the party’s decision, the sources said.
They added that Venugopal, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, organisation, may also be interested in having a key role in Kerala if the party comes to power in the state, but has not spoken about this so far.
The Congress has declared its first list of 55 candidates for Kerala. It is contesting 92 seats in the state.
The last date for filing nominations for the Kerala polls is March 23. The polling will be held on April 9 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 4. The tenure of the current Kerala Assembly ends on May 23. PTI SKC RC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.