CPM Picks Expelled Congress Leader Sarin for Palakkad Bypoll

Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling CPM on Friday officially declared its candidates for the upcoming assembly by-elections in Palakkad and Chelakkara, scheduled for November 13.

CPM state secretary M V Govindan said P Sarin will run as the LDF candidate for Palakkad and U R Pradeep for Chelakkara. Sarin will contest as an independent candidate supported by the CPM.

Pradeep is a former MLA from the Chelakkara constituency. Sarin, who previously headed the IT cell of the Kerala PCC, was expelled from the Congress after his recent criticisms of the party leadership.

He had hoped to secure a Congress ticket from Palakkad; however, the PCC leadership chose state youth Congress president Rahul Mamkootathil instead.

At the press conference, the CPM state secretary declared that while the BJP is the primary adversary for the Left nationwide, in Palakkad, the battle is against the Congress, which is accused of allying with the BJP.

The CPM, once a dominant force in the Palakkad assembly constituency, has fallen to third place in the last two elections, with the BJP emerging as the main challenger to Congress.

Meanwhile, the Congress has alleged that the BJP's delay in announcing its candidate for Palakkad is part of a deal with the CPM. They claim there is a collusion between the CPM and BJP to defeat Congress.

"It was Congress that thwarted a formidable candidate like Metroman Sreedharan from winning the Palakkad seat in the 2021 assembly elections. Our candidate Shafi Prambil defeated him. CPM is not strong enough to defeat the BJP in the assembly constituency," said Rahul Mamkootam.

The by-elections for the Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies were necessitated by the election of the incumbent MLAs, Shafi Parambil and K Radhakrishnan, to the Vadakara and Alathur Parliamentary constituencies, respectively, in the Lok Sabha elections.