THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress High Command will announce its lone candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections. It is learned that the names of Mahila Congress state president Jeby Mather, M Liju and MM Hasan are on the three-member list submitted by the state Congress leadership. Of the three Rajya Sabha seats that will become vacant by April, LDF is expected to retain two seats while the UDF will retain 1.

Meanwhile, AA Rahim of the CPM and P Santhosh Kumar of the CPI have filed nomination papers as LDF candidates. The two filed the nomination papers on Thursday. Leaders of the Front, including the Chief Minister, were present. However, group disputes started in the Congress with the announcement of the Rajya Sabha elections. KPCC president K Sudhakaran, along with his nominee M Liju, met Rahul Gandhi and demanded a seat for Liju. At the same time, the Congress High Command nominated Sreenivasan Krishnan for the seat. The names of Shanimol Usman, VT Balram, Mullappally Ramachandran and Satheesan Pacheni were also considered. It is learned that the national leadership will announce the decision soon.