CPI-M releases 1st list, repeats 8 of 9 sitting MPs

The CPI-M on Saturday released its first list of 45 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, which includes eight of its nine sitting MPs.

The first list has candidates for 16 out of the 20 seats in Kerala, 16 out of the 42 seats in West Bengal and the two seats in Tripura.

In Kerala, it has given tickets to four of its five sitting MPs, including P.K. Biju (Alathoor), M.B. Rajesh (Palakkad), P.K. Sreemathi (Kannur) and A. Sampath (Attingal), while fielding K.P. Satheesh Chandran from Kasargode, the constituency of sitting member of Parliament P. Karunakaran.

In West Bengal, the party has given tickets to both its sitting MPs -- Mohammad Salim (Raiganj) and Badruddaza Khan (Murshidabad).

In Tripura, it has retained Jitendra Chowdhury (Tripura East) and Shankar Prasad Datta (Tripura West).

The party also announced candidates for two of the 14 seats in Assam (Kokrajhar and Lakhimpur) and two of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu (Madurai and Coimbatore).

It announced candidates for one seat each in Haryana (Hisar), Himachal Pradesh (Mandi), Madhya Pradesh (Rewa), Maharashtra (Dindori), Odisha (Bhubaneswar), Punjab (Anandpur Sahib) and Lakshadweep.

In West Bengal, the CPI-M has also fielded candidates from Jalpaiguri, Ranaghat, Bangaon, Dum Dum, Diaamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, Uluberia, Hooghly, Arambag, Bishnupur, Bardhaman Purba, Bardhaman-Durgapur and Birbhum.

In Kerala, the other seats for which the CPI-M has declared candidates, include Vadakara, Malappuram, Chalakudy, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Attingal, Idukki and Ponnani.

--IANS

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