Ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections scheduled for the next month, many parties, including BJP and Congress, are yet to announce their candidate list, but they are still facing multiple issues regarding the assumed list. Meanwhile, despite announcing their candidates, parties such as CPI and IUML face backlash from their members against certain names.
While CPM had faced a lot of local backlash against the candidate list, CPI had an easier route. However, Chadayamangalam in Kollam remains a sore spot for the party as the local committee members and leaders have vehemently opposed J Chinjurani’s candidature, causing fallout within the party. The local members are on the verge of fielding local leader A Mustafa as an independent candidate, while the state leadership is trying their best to talk this out.
However, Chinjurani claims that the party would stand together to fight the elections, and any disagreements within the leadership will be solved through discussions. The state committee member and Mahila Sangham president also opined that the party could have included more women in their candidate list, which the party leadership had admitted to recently.
Ernakulam leadership has turned against the Muslim League’s state leadership with the announcement of Ebrahim Kunju’s son VE Abdul Gafoor as the Kalamassery candidate. They claimed that if the candidate were forced on them then they wouldn’t participate in the campaigning. However, Gafoor has rejected all opposition and has decided on standing.
According to sources, the state leadership chose Gafoor after rejecting the names presented by the district leadership. Moreover, the latter had told the former that Ebrahim Kunju or his son should not be fielded in the constituency. The district leadership had taken a strong stand against nepotism within the League, and they added that Gafoor’s candidature might even affect winning chances in other locations. A few had also suggested fielding a rebel candidate against Gafoor if the state leadership doesn’t comply with their demands.