League announces its candidates; Basheer in Malappuram, Samadani in Ponnani

MALAPPURAM: The Muslim League has officially announced its candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. ET Muhammed Basheer will contest from Malappuram while Abdussamad Samadani will contest from Ponnani. It has been decided that both of them will swap their sitting seats. Meanwhile, League's sitting MP Navas Kani will contest from Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu. It is the only seat of the League in Tamil Nadu.

It was Muslim League state president Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal who announced the candidates after the parliamentary party meeting held in Panakkad. At the same time, the party has to settle for a Rajya Sabha seat instead of a third Lok Sabha seat. The candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat will be announced later.

National President Prof. Khader M Moideen, General Secretary PK Kunhalikutty, ET Muhammed Basheer, Abdussamad Samadani, PV Abdul Wahab, PMA Salam, MK Muneer, and Nawas Kani attended the meeting.

Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said that the seats were swapped to ensure that the services of the leaders were available everywhere. He also said there was time to decide on the Rajya Sabha candidate. PK Kunhalikutty said that the INDIA Front is expected to come to power.

ET Muhammed Basheer
ET Muhammed Basheer is the National Organizing Secretary of the Muslim League. He is competing in Malappuram after a hat-trick win in Ponnani. Since 1985, he had been a member of the Legislative Assembly for four terms. Served as Education Minister in K Karunakaran, AK Antony and Oommen Chandy Cabinets. He has been representing Ponnani in the Lok Sabha since 2009.

Abdussamad Samadani
He is the National Senior Vice President of the Muslim League. He is the sitting MP in Malappuram. He is also famous as a thinker, orator and writer. He has proficiency in English, Arabic, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu and Persian. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha twice (1994-2000, 2000-06). He also reached the Legislative Assembly from Kottakkal (2011-16). He has won the SK Pottekkatt Award, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer Award, Muhammad Abdurrahman Sahib Award etc. for his literary works.