Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six of his cabinet colleagues have been fielded by the ruling CPI(M) for the April 6 state assembly elections, while Finance Minister Thomas Issac has been denied
a ticket this time.
The party on Wednesday released the list of 83 of its 85 candidates including nine CPI(M) supported independents.
Health Minister KK Shailaja, Labour Minister TP Ramakrishnan, Power Minister M M Mani, Devaswom Minister Kadakkampally Surendran, Fisheries Minister Mercykutty Amma and Local Self Government minister AC Moideen are trying their luck once again.
Mr Vijayan will contest from Dharmadam constituency in Kannur district.
However, five ministers have been denied seats-- TM Thomas Isaac, E P Jayarajan, R Ravindranath, G Sudhakaran and AK Balan as the party decided not to provide seats to those who had been elected twice.
MV Govindan Master, K Radhakrishan, P Rajeev and KN Balagopal are the state secretariat members who are contesting.
There are 12 women candidates in the list. Candidates for Manjeshwaram and Devikulam constituencies would be announced later, Acting state secretary, A Vijayaraghavan, told reporters.
The party's aim was not to deny tickets to anyone, but to give an opportunity to new candidates, he said.
The CPI(M)-led LDF is eyeing a second consecutive term this time. In the 2016 polls, the LDF had won 91 seats in the 140-member assembly.
Pointing out that the Left front was introducing a host of programmes envisaging to mould the future of the state, Mr Vijayaraghavan said the scheme, eyeing to provide employment for 20 lakh people in the next five years, is one of the most significant among them.
However, the opposition Congress and BJP were trying all "wicked means" to prevent the LDF coming into power again in the state, he alleged.
The speech made by Union home minister Amit Shah, during his recent visit to Thiruvananthapuram, was proof forthe BJP hatching a high-level conspiracy to malign the image of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other ministers, he claimed.
Both BJP and Congress are working in tandem in the state to prevent the Left from coming into power again, he said, adding that every person who wanted to retain the secular fabric of the southern state would vote for the CPI(M)-led front.
CPI, a major ally in the ruling Left Democratic Front, had on Tuesday announced that it will be contesting in 25 seats and declared candidates for 21 seats, including Revenue minister, E Chandrasekharan (Kanhangad), Incumbent Deputy Speaker V Sashi (Chiryankeezhu).
In the 2016 polls, the LDF had won 91 seats in the 140- member assembly.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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