Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM) leader and former Speaker of the state assembly, M. Vijayakumar is tipped to be the Left Democratic Front candidate for the by-election to the Aruvikkara assembly constituency in Kerala.
The district secretariat meeting of the CPM on Thursday unanimously decided to field Vijayakumar as the candidate. The recommendation of the district secretariat is expected to be ratified by the state secretariat of the party.
The by-election was necessitated by the demise of Congress leader and speaker of the assembly, G. Karthikeyan. The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the by-election. The party is inclined to fielding Sulekha, widow of Karthikeyan for the contest in Aruvikkara, but Karthikeyan’s family members have not yet taken up the proposal.
The result of the Aruvikkara by-poll will not lead to a problem of majority seats for the ruling United Democratic Front government, which is into the final year of its five-year term. But the result will be closely watched because it will be an indication of the prospects of both fronts in the state for the assembly elections in 2016.
