Paloli Mohammed Kutty

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI(M) State secretariat has picked Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener Paloli Mohammed Kutty to lead the Opposition LDF's electoral battle.

He emerged as the leading contender for the top job in the event of the Opposition alliance emerging victorious in the April-May Assembly election after the party Polit Bureau and Central committee had recently decided not to field Polit Bureau members V.S. Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan in the election.

However, the proposal of the secretariat met with strong opposition when it was placed before the State committee meeting later in the day.

The State secretariat, which met in the presence of party general secretary Prakash Karat, also finalised the list of party candidates. The list was later presented to the party State committee, which began a two-day meeting for candidate selection. The party has decided to field a new face, K.V. Ramakrishnan, in Malampuzha from where Mr. Achuthanandan was elected to the present Assembly.

The State secretariat was supposed to conclude its discussion on the leadership question on Tuesday, but had to meet again owing to divergent opinions on the question of whether or not to field Mr. Achuthanandan.

Tentative information so far suggests that CPI(M) State secretariat members Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, M.A. Baby, E. P. Jayarajan, T. M. Thomas Isaac, S. Sarma, A. K. Balan and P. K. Sreemathy would be among the contestants. One notable aspect of the CPI(M) list would be the return of CITU leaders K. N. Ravindranath and M. M. Lawrence to the electoral fray.

With the media giving almost blow-by-blow commentary on what is reportedly happening in the CPI(M), the candidate selection by the party has assumed unusual significance. The delay in finalisation of the candidates' list, particularly the names of the leading contenders, has only added to the confusion. The bilateral talks between the CPI(M) and its allies have also got stalled owing to the difficulties being faced by the CPI(M) in candidate selection. The talks are expected to resume only on March 17. This may continue till the forenoon of March 17, when the LDF State committee is expected to begin its deliberations on final allocation of seats.

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