Antony named as UDF's RS nominee, CPI-M announces 2 candidates

Congress leader and Defence Minister AK 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.

Congress leader and Defence Minister AK 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.

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The election committee of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Saturday 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.