Congress finally draws up a candidate list in Kerala

The Congress high command on Thursday approved the list of its candidates for Lok Sabha polls in Kerala retaining all but two sitting MPs, including Union Ministers Shashi Tharoor and K V Thomas, giving a head start to the party in the campaign against rival Left Democratic Front.

P T Thomas, at loggerheads with Catholic church in the Christian-dominated Idukki over the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats, failed to get re-nomination. Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose has been named for the seat.

Another sitting MP missing this time is N Peethambara Kurup as the Kollam seat he had won has been allocated to RSP which quit LDF and joined UDF last week.

Senior leader P C Chacko has been shifted to Chalakkudi from Thrissur. In a swap, K P Dhanapalan, who had won from Chalakkdi in 2009, has been moved to Thrissur.

After final round of discussions with AICC functionaries, KPCC president V M Sudheeran said in Delhi that the list had been approved and the announcement would be made by AICC latest by Friday.

Tharoor would be seeking a second term from prestigious Thiruvananthapuram seat while Thomas is back in his home turf Ernakulam.

Other Union Ministers to be back in their constituencies are Mullapally Ramachandran (Vatakara), K C Venugopal (Alappuzha) and Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikkara).

Sudheeran, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala had held discussions with AICC office bearers in charge of the state.