The ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala on Monday finalised the seat-sharing exercise among its constituents for all 140 assembly segments for the April 13 polls with lead partner Communist Party of India-Marxist getting the lion's share of 93.
Kerala-based Peoples Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani finds himself in political isolation with mainstream parties in the state keeping away from him, despite past dalliance with him, after he was chargesheeted in the Bengaluru blasts case.
'In the past, our movement was against the colonisers, but presently our struggle against communalism is a movement against those who stood with the colonisers'
Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy was sworn in as the 21st chief minister of Kerala on Wednesday at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. Along with Chandy, six floor leaders of the United Democratic Front coalition were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor R S Gavai at the lawns of the Raj Bhavan.
Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy is set to become the Kerala chief minister with Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala on Sunday opting out of the race for the top post. A meeting of the senior party leaders held at the KPCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram unanimously decided Chandy should lead the United Democratic Front ministry. The Congress Legislature Party meeting scheduled in Thiruvananthapuram later on Sunday will formalise the decision
The veteran CPI-M leader, who set the agenda for the polls by bringing issues like corruption and sex scandals to sharp focus, had mounted a spirited campaign across the state which was the single most factor that helped LDF to shore up its sagging support base reflected in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
Led by CPI-M stalwart, 87-year-old V S Achuthanandan, the LDF succeeded in staving off the anti-incumbency trend against the government, which was reflected in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and civic elections last year, in which the UDF had stolen march over the Left front.
What was shocking was the execution of the killings -- calculated, gory and intended to send a chill down the spine.
Prakash Karat, the head (general secretary) of the country's premier Left party, the Communist Party of India -Marxist, tells Saubhadra Chatterji it won't be doomsday if they lose power in West Bengal.
State government and the investment partner of the project was on a dispute over 'free hold land' issue.
It will be a 'tough fight' between the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress in this month's assembly polls in West Bengal while in Kerala the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front had an 'edge' over the Congress-led United Democratic Front, Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan said on Friday.
The rise of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan after last week's dramatic developments in Communist Party of India-Marxist as the undisputed captain of Left Democratic Front in the April 13 assembly polls in Kerala once again is expected to make the contest tougher for Congress-led United Democratic Front.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist, the lead partner in the Left Democratic Front in Kerala has re-nominated 54 sitting members, including Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and eight ministers. But it has also included 30 new names as candidates for the April 13 elections to the state assembly. The 91-member list also includes 10 women and seven independents. The party nominated T K Gangadharan as the candidate for Mahe segment in Puducherry.
The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala on Wednesday suffered a major jolt with the opposition United Democratic Front wresting two city corporations and dominating the race in muncipalities for which counting was taken up.
Bowing to public pressure, the Communist Party of India Marxist in Kerala on Friday reversed its decision to drop Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from the candidates' list for the state assembly, bringing the party's most popular face to the poll arena to lead the Left Democratic Front for the polls on April 13. The dramatic U-turn came after the central leadership directed the state unit to revoke its decision, factoring in widespread protests from the party rank and file
With the Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretariat deciding not to provide Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan a seat to contest in the coming assembly elections, sources say that the Congress-led United Democratic Front is all set to emerge as a clear winner.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran criticised those who were trying to give a communal colour to the tourism department tweet on the Kerala delicacy -- "Beef Ularthiyathu" and said in the southern state none links food with religion.
Kerala-based People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani finds himself isolated, with mainstream parties in the state keeping away from him, despite past association, after he was named in the 2008 Bangalore blasts case.
The arrest or surrender of People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani in the Bengaluru blasts case is expected to take place on Tuesday as the deadline for the execution of the warrant issued by a local court is set to expire by today evening. Political pressure is also mounting on Kerala's Left Democratic Front government to facilitate the Karnataka police to carry out the legal process.
'The need of the hour is unity among all Indians who wish to protect and preserve our cherished values of democracy and secularism'
Congress-led United Democratic Front on Friday managed to wrest power from the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist-controlled Left Democratic Front in Kerala with a wafer-thin majority of two seats in the 140-member Assembly, in the closest poll battle in the state in three decades.
Kerala has never witnessed such a close call in assembly elections in its history, as it did this year. It was indeed a photo finish between the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Communist party of India-Marxist led Left Democratic Front today. It was like a thrilling Twenty20 match with one batsman pitching in with a spectacular performance. The LDF has managed to win as many as 68 seats, against 72 of the UDF, only because of the goodwill of V S Achuthanandan.
The 'Taliban-like' attack on a college teacher by radicals who chopped off his hand sent shock waves across Kerala during the year which also saw the drubbing of the ruling Left Democratic Front in the local body polls.
The plant at Pudussery was found to have been depleting the water table in the locality over the years.
The rival fronts were locked in a fierce combat in most of the constituencies making it a close contest in the state, which had alternately voted for the LDF and UDF every five years and where even a small swing could be decisive.
Claiming that the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala had little to show as its achievement, Defence Minister A K Antony on Monday said the state would become the 'second Bengal' if the Left alliance returned to power.
'The presence of Rahul Gandhi and his campaigning for the Congress will make a general difference, but whether it will make a saving difference, not sure.'
After campaigning in Alleppey for the legendary K R Gowri Amma, Oommen Chandy spoke to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier about forming the next government in the state, development in Kerala and more.
The political rhetoric of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was not going to help the ruling Left Democratic Front in its 'losing battle' for the assembly polls as people of Kerala were keen on a change of rule, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said on Monday.
As Kerala is set to go for assembly polls on April 13, the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front have to race against time as they are yet to finalise the seat-sharing exercise among partners and each component to work out the list of their contestants for before the filing of nominations begin on March 19.
Senior Member of Parliament from the Communist Party of India-Marxist Vrinda Karat said workers in the country are at receiving end of Centre's anti-labour policies and promotion of multinational firms.
Bharatiya Janata Party state president P K Krishnadas and Nationalist Congress Party state president and former Member of Parliament, K Muraleedhran, who are contesting from Thiruvananthapuram and Wynad respectively, may prove to be the proverbial dark horses in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
'Metroman' E Sreedharan's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party has given a boost to the saffron's hopes to make huge electoral inroads in Kerala, one of the toughest political terrains for the party, in the assembly polls likely to be held in April.
Turning the heat on senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Pinarayi Vijayan, the Kerala High Court on Thursday asked the Left Front government to act independently without 'political compulsions' while deciding on the Central Bureau of Investigations plea to prosecute him in the SNC-Lavalin graft case.
Controversial People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani has accused the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala of playing into the hands of the Opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the case related to the arrest of his wife, Sufiya Madhani.
Senior Congress leader and convener of the Opposition United Democratic Front P P Thankachan has accused Kerala's ruling Communist Party of India-led Left Democratic Front of trying to shield Thadiyantavida Naseer, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative from the state, who was arrested along the India-Bangladesh border recently. Thankachan, former speaker of Kerala assembly, has alleged that the state government is trying to protect the interests of some senior political figures.
Union Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday dismissed as "unfounded and misleading" the charges by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan who had accused him of using public platforms to deride the Left Democratic Front government in the state.
Security at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram has been stepped up after a caller from a Gulf country issued a threat to the life of Kerala Governor R S Gavai, police said on Monday.
Kerala Public Works minister P J Joseph resigned from the Left Democratic Front ministry and announced the decision of his party to leave the LDF to merge with the Kerala Congress (Mani).
The Left Democratic Front-led Kerala government on Wednesday accepted the Advocate General's advice against granting permission to prosecute former minister and CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin corruption case.
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