The Congress party on Thursday (March 19, 2026) announced its second list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, hours after senior leader K. Sudhakaran made it clear that he will abide by the party’s decision.
Among the list of 37 candidates put out by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) are T.O. Mohanan from the Kannur Assembly constituency, which was sought by Mr. Sudhakaran, and Satheesh Kochuparambil from the Konni constituency, which was sought by Adoor Prakash, MP. The AICC stuck to its stand that no sitting MP will be allowed to contest in the Assembly elections in the State.
Significantly, the party has not announced any candidates for the Payyannur, Taliparamba and Ottappalam constituencies, where the United Democratic Front (UDF) is expected to lend support to Communist Party of India (Marxist) dissidents. While in Payyannur, the front will support former Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district committee member V. Kunhikrishnan, in Taliparamba, it will support former CPI(M) district secretariat member T.K. Govindan and in Ottappalam, former CPI(M) MLA P.K. Sasi. The party has not announced any candidate for the Ambalappuzha segment as well where it is expected to support former CPI(M) leader G. Sudhakaran.
Soon after the list was announced, incumbent Perumbavoor MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly expressed dissatisfaction as Manoj Moothedan has been fielded from the seat.
The 37 candidates are: Uduma – K.Neelakandan; Thrikaripur – Sandeep Varier; Kalliasseri – Rajeevan Kappachery; Kannur – T.O. Mohanan; Mattannur – Chandran Thillenkeri; Pattambi – T.P. Shaji; Shoranur – P.Harigovindan; Kunnamkulam – Ajay Mohan; Wadakkancherry – Vyshakh Narayanaswami; Perumbavoor – Manoj Moothedan; Vypeen- Tony Chammany; Kochi – Mohammad Shiyas; Thripunithura- Deepak Joy; Devikulam – F. Raja; Udumbanchola- Senapathy Venu; Idukki – Roy K. Poulose; Peerumade- Syriac Thomas; Ettumanoor – Nattakam Suresh; Kanjirappally – Rony K. Baby; Poonjar – Sebastian M.J.; Alappuzha – A.D. Thomas; Kayamkulam – M. Liju; Chengannur – Eby Kuriakose; Ranni – Pazhakulam Madhu; Aranmula – Abin Varkey; Konni – Satheesh Kochuparambil; Adoor – Santhakumar; Chadayamangalam – M.M. Nazeer; Varkala – Varkala Kahar; Nedumangad – Meenankal Kumar; Vamanapuram – Sudeersha Palode; Kazhakuttam – Sarathchandra Prasad; Nemom – K.S. Sabarinadhan; Aruvikkara- V.S. Sivakumar; Parassala – Neyyatinkara Sanal; Kattakkada – M.R. Baiju; Neyyatinkara – N. Sakthan.
Published – March 19, 2026 11:10 pm IST
