By IANS,
New Delhi : Ramesh Chennithala, the Congress president in Kerala, and K. Muraleedhran, a former state chief who rejoined the party recently, are likely to contest the assembly polls, a party source said.
Chennithala met party president Sonia Gandhi and other leaders here Tuesday and he has got the permission to contest the April 13 elections, the source told IANS.
Special permission is needed for state Congress committee chiefs and other important party office-bearers to contest polls.
Though formal discussions on the list of candidates in Kerala is to be taken up by a panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee next week, the candidature of Chennithala has been approved, the source said.
This is also true for Muraleedharan, son of former Kerala chief minister K. Karunakaran.
But Congress sources still rate opposition leader Oommen Chandy as the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post if the United Democatic Front (UDF) returns to power in Kerala.
According to them, Chennithala is likely to conest from his constituency Harippad in Alappuzha district or from Vattiyurkavu in Thiruvananthapuram city.
Chengannur in Alappuzha is another possible seat for the state president.
Muraleedharan is being considered for Koduvally in Kozhikode district, the sources told IANS.
Former National Students Union of India (NSUI) chief Hiby Eden will also be fielded, likely from Ernakulam district, they said.
The Congress Tuesday formed a 35-member committee of state leaders to oversee the Kerala polls.
It included Chennithala, Chandy, Muraleedharan, all five Congress ministers from Kerala in the union cabinet, and former state chiefs among others.