Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader and
Defence Minister A K Antony and ruling CPI-M's K N Balagopal
and T N Seema are expected to be elected to the Rajya Sabha
unopposed from Kerala.
The election committee of the Kerala Pradesh Congress
Committee (KPCC) today unanimously recommended renomination of
Antony, while the CPI-M, heading the LDF, announced its
candidates after a meeting of the party's state secretariat.
All the three are expected to be elected unopposed as
no other candidate is likely to enter the fray considering the
strength of the political composition of the state assembly.
Based on their strength in the House the Congress-led
UDF can win one seat and the ruling LDF the remaining two.
Besides Antony, other two members retiring from the
Rajya Sabha are A Vijayraghavan (CPI-M) and P V Abdul Wahab
(IUML).
"The KPCC election committee's decision to propose
Antony as the candidate was unanimous. Considering his
national stature as the country's defence minister, his
continuance in the Rajya Sabha is inevitable," state Congress
chief Ramesh Chennithala told reporters.
Balagopal, a former All-India President of CPI-M's
youth wing DYFI, is now the political secretary to Chief
Minister V S Achuthanandan. State president of the party's
women outfit AIDWA, Seema has been a prominent woman face of
the party in the state for the last few years.
Rejecting the demand of front partner RSP, the LDF had
yesterday approved the claim of the CPI-M to contest both the
seats.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 13, 2010, 19:21