Thiruvananthapuram:
The Chief Minister of Kerala VS Achuthanandan will not contest the state elections, scheduled for April 13.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is currently in power in Kerala, has decided that the state's Home Minister and CPM Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will lead the party for the elections.
Mr Achuthanandan is seen to be more popular among voters than he is within his party. In the last elections, he contested and won the Malampuzha assembly seat in the Palakkad district. Recently, the 87-year-old Chief Minister made it clear that he was willing to stand for elections again.
The party's central leadership had asked the state unit to decide on whether Mr Achuthanandan should be given a ticket.
The CPI(M) in Kerala has seen a bitter battle in the last few years between the chief minister and state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, whose hold over the party has been increasing. Mr Vijayan won't contest the elections either- he is accused of corruption in a case that dates back to 1996 when he was Power Minister and a Canadian firm named SNC Lavalin was given a mega-crore contract to renovate three power plants.
It was Mr Achuathanandan's public criticism of Mr Vijayan that led to the chief minister being dropped from his party's politburo in 2009.
Mr Balakrishnan, who will head the party's election effort, is known for his loyalty to Mr Vijayan.