Aiming to reverse 2019 rout, Kerala CPI(M) bets on seasoned faces for LS polls; ropes in Shailaja, Isaac

Indicating its high stakes in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the ruling CPI(M) has nominated seasoned party leaders across the state.

Of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the CPI(M) is contesting 15, allotting four to the CPI and one to the Kerala Congress (M).

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M)-led LDF won only one seat in Kerala. The face-saver had come from Alappuzha, where youth leader and then sitting legislator A M Arif wrested the seat from the Congress. The party has renominated Arif from the same constituency this time.

In a bid to reverse the rout of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, most of the candidates fielded by the CPI(M) are seasoned leaders who have had a long stint with the party. This marks a departure from its experiment with fresh faces in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Kerala is the last red bastion in the country, the only state where the CPI(M) is confident of putting up a strong performance, which is crucial for its relevance in national politics. Since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party’s fortunes have been on a decline nationally, culminating in the 2019 elections, when it suffered a severe setback, winning only three seats. Only in Kerala does the party see a chance to reverse the trend now.

Of its 15 candidates, K Radhakrishnan, who is contesting from Alathur, is a minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet. In Kollam, actor-cum-legislator Mukesh will take on sitting MP N K Premachandran of the RSP, which is an ally of the Congress in the state. At Attingal, the party’s choice is its Varkala MLA V Joy, who is also its Thiruvananthapuram district secretary.

In Pathanamthitta, former minister Thomas Isaac, who was ignored in the 2021 Assembly elections, will take on sitting Congress