CPI-M meet to finalise candidates

The CPI-M Politburo and central committee will meet in New Delhi Friday to finalise the candidates and strategies for the Lok Sabha elections, party sources said here Thursday.

"The Politburo will meet in New Delhi Friday. After that, the two-day meet of the central committee will be held Saturday and Sunday. These meetings will finalise the party candidates and electoral strategies," a party leader told IANS.

The party leader said the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), in alliance with other Left and like-minded parties, will field candidates in around 80 seats in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and a few other states.

"After the approval of the Politburo and central committee, the respective state committees will declare the names of the candidates," the leader added.

In the outgoing 15th Lok Sabha, the CPI-M has 16 members followed by CPI with four and Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party with two each.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule of the general elections to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha within a week, an official said.

"The commission is likely to conduct the elections in five or six phases across the country," a top official told IANS.

With the Lok Sabha polls, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will also go to polls to elect new assemblies.