Lok Sabha Elections: Congress To Contest 16 Seats In Kerala; IUML Announces Candidates (image:twitter.com/vdsatheesan)
The Congress will contest 16 seats in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said on Wednesday. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) will contest in two seats, and Kerala Congress and RSP (B) will contest in one seat each.
Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition said that the allocation of seats within the opposition led-United Democratic Front (UDF) for the Lok Sabha elections has been finalised.
Recently, IUML, the second largest coalition partner in UDF, stated that they had urged for one more Lok Sabha seat in the elections and won”t retract from their decision. However, VD Satheesan responded that the issues were sorted through discussions and Muslim League has offered a Rajya seat instead of a third seat in Lok Sabha elections. “The next Rajya Sabha seat will be allotted to Muslim League,” On manorama quotes as VD Satheesan is saying. He then added that Congress party took the decision after consultation with the national leadership.
A screening committee will be called for finalising the list of candidates, VD Satheesan said. Once the list is approved by the Central Election Committee, it will be announced, Opposition leader added.
Meanwhile, after Congress” announcement of seat-sharing plan in the Lok Sabha polls, IUML announced its candidates. ET Mohammed Basheer, the current Ponnani MP, will contest from Malappuram, Abdussamad Samadani, current Malappuram MP will contest from Ponnani. The Muslim League shifted the constituencies of the sitting MPs of Ponnani and Malappuram and officially concluded the speculations over third seat.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, ET Mohammed Basheer maintained the Ponnani seat by defeating LDF-supported independent candidate P V Anvar for a margin of 1,93,273 votes. Similarly, Abdussamad Samadhani won the Malappuram seat by defeating SFI national president V P Sanu by gathering a margin of 1,14,692 votes.
