Ramya Haridas in Chelakkara, Rahul Mamkootathil in Palakkad; UR Pradeep and Vaseef likely to contest from Left Front

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As Kerala goes into the heat of a by-election again, the candidate discussions are in the final stages. Congress had announced Priyanka Gandhi's name for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency earlier itself. The names of Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil for Palakkad assembly constituency and former MP Remya Haridas for Chelakkara have been submitted to the AICC. According to AICC sources, an official announcement will be made soon.

For LDF, former MLA UR Pradeep is likely to contest from Chelakkara. He had represented the constituency as a legislator earlier and had stayed away from contesting the 2021 elections for K Radhakrishnan. Pradeep is well known in the constituency as a former MLA. Therefore, the party's discussions did not enter into any other name here. Meantime, in Palakkad constituency, the name of district panchayat president K Beenamol is being considered as the party's first priority. However, other names are also being considered for the constituency.

In 2016 and 2021, CPM had came third in the Palakkad constituency. Shafi Parambil won the seat after facing a tough competition with Metroman Sreedharan. CPM is considering fielding DYFI state president V Vaseef against Rahul Mamkootathil. It is learnt that the CPI will announce its candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. Former Peermade MLA ES Bijimol's name is at the forefront.

Discussions on the NDA's candidature are also progressing. Targetting a tough battle, NDA intends to field TN Sarasu in Chelakkara. Sarasu's performance in the Alathur constituency, which includes Chelakkara, in the Lok Sabha elections has helped her. In Palakkad, the names of C Krishnakumar and Sobha Surendran are being considered. The possibility of state chief K Surendran contesting from the constituency where the chances of winning are high cannot be ruled out. NDA is considering the name of local leader K Balakrishnan also in Chelakkara.