Kerala Congress chief Ramachandran calls Party's candidate list a 'generational shift'

Kerala Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran on Sunday asserted that the list of candidates of Congress that was released for the Kerala assembly polls shows a generational shift. According to him, it was the wish of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to accommodate new faces, which led to the framing of this kind of a list. 

"The list released today shows a generational change, exactly how Rahul Gandhi wanted. He wanted new faces to be accommodated in the list," he said while pointing out that Congress is winning the election in the state. 

Congress' list of Candidates

On Sunday, Ramachandran, who met the media at Delhi after deliberations with the screening committee and the Congress high command, announced the list of 86 candidates out of the 92 seats which the party would be contesting.

As per the list,  former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has been fielded from Puthuppally while the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala from Haripad. Cine actor Dharmajan has been fielded from the Balussery constituency in the Kozhikode district while former tourism minister A P Anil Kumar from Wandoor and youth Congress leader Shafi Parambil from Palakkad.

Other youth leaders, like V T Balram (Thrithala), A M Rohith (Ponnani), Dr Sarin P (Ottapalam), KSU state chief K M Abhijith (Kozhikode North) constituency and former minister K Jayalakshmi have also found a place in the list. 

It is pertinent to mention here that the list saw several older leaders being dropped, which indicates a 'generational shift wanted by Rahul Gandhi' as stated by Ramachandran.

Congress' Kerala push

In Kerala, the Congress-led UDF is the main contender to the Left-led LDF. Kicking off its 'Aishwarya Kerala Yatra', Congress leader  Ramesh Chennithala has vowed to bring legislation to protect the rights of the Ayyappa devotees when the UDF is voted to power.  Rahul Gandhi has also visited the state multiple times, campaigning for UDF. Congress has repeatedly called for CM Pinarayi Vijayan's resignation over a host of issues - Gold smuggling probe, Sandalwood probe, COVID handling, Sabarimala issue, Sprinklr row, Police social media order etc. Elections will take place in a single-phase in Kerala, with the polling of votes on April 6 followed by counting and declaration of results on May 2.