The CPI(M) on Friday named party leader M Swaraj as the party-led LDF's candidate for the upcoming by-election to the Nilambur Assembly segment in Malappuram district. CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan announced Swaraj's candidature at a press conference here, following the party state secretariat meeting.
Swaraj, a former MLA who represented the Thrippunithura Assembly seat in Ernakulam district during the 2016–2021 period, hails from Nilambur in Malappuram district. He lost to the Congress's K Babu in the 2021 elections.
Swaraj is a member of the CPI(M) state secretariat. Earlier, the Congress had announced the candidature of Aryadan Shoukath, the son of the late Congress veteran and former Kerala minister Aryadan Mohammed, for the seat.
Also read: Nilambur by-poll: LDF, UDF eye victory
In the past four decades, this is the third time that a candidate will be contesting under the CPM party symbol in Nilambur. Between 1982 and 2021 assembly polls, CPM had nominated party candidates twice: Devadas Pottakkad in 1987 and P Sreeramakrishnan in 2006. Both of them lost to Aryadan Mohammad.
In the previous assembly elections held in 2016 and 2021, LDF bagged the seat, fielding PV Anvar as an independent candidate.
Govindan rejected the Anvar factor creating trouble in the polls for the party and assured that contest would be between the Congress and the CPM. He even called out Anvar for betraying the LDF and CPM.
Anvar resigned from his position as MLA following disagreements with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Speaking to the media after the announcement of his candidature, Swaraj said the election results will reflect public approval of the LDF government's development programmes in the state. When asked about the possibility of Anvar, Swaraj said he was unaware of Anvar’s plans and added that he would not be a determining factor in the Nilambur polls. “People will focus on the development activities across the state, not on PV Anvar,” he said.
Swaraj, who started his political career in 1988 as a member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), is a native of Nilambur and lost to Congress candidate K Babu by 1,232 votes in the 2021 assembly elections in Thripunithura constituency. He later became the State Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPM.
Swaraj is an advocate by profession. He was born on May 27, 1979, to PN Muraleedharan Nair and PR Sumangi Amma.
Swaraj mentioned that he will arrive in Nilambur on Saturday to begin his election campaign.
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