Kerala polls: TMC names candidates for 70 constituencies

Aiming to wipe out the Congress and CPI(M) from Kerala, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday announced its candidates for 70 Assembly constituencies in the state. TMC’s Kerala unit president Manoj Sankaranellur said the party would contest all 140 constituencies in the state. 

Party sources said the second list of candidates will be announced by March 30 after Banerjee’s approval.

Banerjee will be visiting Kerala to campaign for the party, in which she will talk about the “unethical alliance” between Congress and CPI(M) in West Bengal who are arch-rivals in Kerala. She is likely to address rallies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode in April.

TMC president of Kottayam district Ouseppacham (Joseph) will be contesting against CM Oommen Chandy from Puthupally constituency.

Sankaranellur said TMC has around 2 lakh members in Kerala. Around 23 lakh people, belonging to Eastern and North-eastern part of the country, work as labourers in the state. Sankaranellur said over 15 lakh Bengalis work in the state and the party leadership is confident of winning their votes. He said the party’s performance could leave a major impact on the poll results in at least 40 Assembly constituencies.

In 2014 Parliamentary elections, the TMC had fielded five candidates from Kasargode, Waynad, Palakkad, Chalakkudi and Pathanamthitta constituencies in Kerala. The party had also contested the last panchayat polls in Kerala. But this is the first time when it is contesting in the Assembly elections in the southern state.

Quoting Banerjee, Subhash Kundannoor, state president of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, said: “Two parties cannot be friends at one place and foe in another state”. Banerjee will visit Kerala to make the people understand how the parties are trying to befool them. Ahead of the elections, Congress leaders, including former Chengannur MLA Sobhana George, would join the TMC.