The final list of candidates is now ready after the last date for withdrawing nominations to the Wayanad Lok Sabha and Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly constituencies ended on Wednesday.
There are 16 candidates in Wayanad, 10 in Palakkad, and six in Chelakkara. The elections will be held on November 13th.
Even though the principal fight at the Wayanad Lok Sabha polls is between the Congress-led UDF candidate Priyanka Gandhi and CPI candidate of the ruling CPI-M-led LDF, a veteran three-time former legislator Sathyan Mokeri while young sitting Kozhikode Corporation Councilor Navya Haridas is the BJP candidate.
The sitting Lok Sabha member from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi, decided to vacate the constituency after he chose to retain Raebareli, making the by-elections a necessity.
The Assembly by-elections at Palakkad and Chelakkara were necessitated after sitting legislators Shafi Paramabil (Congress) and K. Radhakrishnan (CPI-M), respectively, vacated the seats after winning the April Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP has high hopes at Palakkad, where their candidate ‘Metro man’ E Sreedharan gave a tough fight to Parambil before losing by less than 4,000 votes in the 2021 Assembly polls.
The Congress has brought in Youth Congress president Rahul Mamkootathil, while the BJP has fielded Krishnakumar, the candidate at the recent Lok Sabha seat from the Palakkad seat.
The CPI-M has fielded a turncoat Congress leader, P Sarin, a medical doctor, who was the losing Congress candidate from the nearby Ottapalam Assembly seat at the 2021 assembly polls.
Sarin was hopeful of getting the Congress ticket, but the party gave the ticket to another candidate, leaving him to quit Congress. Then, the CPI-M decided to field him as a Left independent candidate.
From the Chelakkara Assembly seat, the Congress has fielded Ramya Haridas, who failed to retain her Alathur Lok Sabha seat at the April 26th Lok Sabha polls.
The CPI-M has brought in U.R. Pradeep, the former legislator who represented the constituency (2016-21), while the BJP has fielded K. Balakrishnan.
–IANS
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