Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will contest the state assembly election -- due on April 9 -- from Dharmadam. His party will contest on 86 seats. Vijayan contested from the same seat in 2016 and 2021.
The state's ruling Left Democratic Front --contesting under the leadership of Vijayan -- is hoping for a third straight term in power.
The party had broken the state's system of voting out the incumbent last time to win an unprecedented second straight term.
CPM state secretary MV Govindan released the list of 81 candidates today, including six party-backed Independents.
Senior leader and former health minister KK Shailaja -- one of the party's most popular leaders -- will try her luck from Peravoor constituency in Kannur.
In 2021, the Congress won 22 seats -- one of them has been expelled from the party.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election results, though, were less than encouraging for the Left bloc, with the LDF managing to win just one of the state's 20 seats.
This was followed by setbacks in a series of by-elections -- barring one, all were won by the Congress-led UDF, raising hope in the opposition camp.
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