NEW DELHI: Congress has announced its candidates for all three constituencies where by-elections are being held in the state. Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkootathil will contest from Palakkad constituency, which fell vacant following Shafi Parambil's victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Former Alathur MP Ramya Haridas will contest from Chelakkara, which fell vacant after minister K Radhakrishnan won from Alathur. It was announced earlier that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from the Wayanad constituency.

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.