By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress party Monday renominated Vayalar Ravi, minister of overseas Indian affairs and parliamentary affairs for the Rajya Sabha elections from Kerala, while the state’s ruling Left chose two journalists.
While the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) nominated P. Rajiv, resident editor of its mouthpiece Deshabhimani, its partner Communist Party of India (CPI) chose M.P. Achuthan, resident editor of its mouthpiece Janayugam.
The Rajya Sabha tenures of Vayalar Ravi, Thennala Balakrishnan (Congress) and K. Chandran Pillai (CPI-M) ends later this week. Tuesday is the last day for filing nominations for the three seats.
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) is slated to get two candidates elected, while the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) will have one seat on the basis of their strength in the assembly, which is the electoral college.
The LDF has 98 seats and UDF 42 in the 140-member assembly.
The Congress party had a tough time selecting its nominee as a number of leaders, including 90-year-old K. Karunakaran were eyeing the lone seat.
On the other hand, CPI cleared the name of Achuthan Monday amid reports that party state secretary Veliyam Bharghavan had to bargain hard for him in the face of competition from a number of aspirants.