Kerala CPI-M mulls fielding top leaders in Lok Sabha polls

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 24 (IANS) With the Lok Sabha elections approaching, the CPI-M may field its top leaders including former General Secretary Prakash Karat from Kerala.Kerala has 20 parliamentary constituencies. The Congress-led UDF now has 12 seats while the CPI-M-led LDF has eight (CPI-M 5, CPI 1 and two Left supported independents).Overall, the CPI-M has just nine Lok Sabha members, including two each from Tripura and West Bengal.Given the present status of the party in West Bengal and Tripura, Kerala is considered the safest bet for CPI-M stalwarts.According to a source in the CPI-M, the State Secretariat meeting scheduled to be held here on February 1 will examine the possible candidates.Besides Prakash Karat, the other names doing the rounds are those of his wife Branda Karat, politburo member M.A. Baby, who lost the 2014 Lok Sabha battle at Kollam, and Viju Krishnan.
--IANS sg/mr/nir