Candidates of major political fronts filed their nomination papers for the Lok Sabha polls from the Alappuzha and Mavelikara constituencies on Thursday.
In Alappuzha, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] leader and incumbent A.M. Ariff, MP, of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) filed his papers before Alappuzha District Collector Alex Varghese. He was accompanied by CPI (M) politburo member M.A. Baby, CPI (M) leader and former Minister G. Sudhakaran, CPI (M) district secretary R. Nazar, and Communist Party of India (CPI) district secretary T.J. Anjalose.
Mr. Ariff’s main rival in the election is All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal, MP, of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Mr. Venugopal, accompanied by Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, MLA, M. Liju and others, also filed his nomination before the Collector.
In Mavelikara, senior Congress leader and incumbent Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, of the UDF submitted his papers before Chengannur Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) G. Nirmal Kumar. Congress and UDF leaders P. Rajendra Prasad, M. Murali, Aby Kuriakose and Koshy M. Koshy accompanied him.
Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) leader Baiju Kalasala, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in Mavelikra, accompanied by BDJS State general secretary P.S. Jyothis, Bharatiya Janata Party district president M.V. Gopakumar and others, also filed his nomination before the Chengannur RDO.
BJP leader Shobha Surendran, the NDA candidate in Alappuzha, and CPI leader C.A. Arunkumar, the LDF candidate in Mavelikara, filed their nominations on Wednesday.
Fourteen people have filed nomination papers to contest the elections from the Alappuzha Parliament constituency. In the Mavelikara constituency, another 14 candidates have submitted nominations.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on Friday and the last day for withdrawal of nominations is April 8.
