Filing of nominations begins in Kerala

Senior leaders from various parties filed their candidature for the May 16 assembly polls in Kerala on the first day of nominations on Friday.

Among those who filed their nominations from constituencies in the capital were Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit chief Kummanem Rajasekheran and his predecessor V.Muraleedharan as well as senior Congress leader and former chief minister K. Karunakaran's son, K. Muraleedharan.

Muraleedharan's sister Padmaja Venugopal filed her nominations in Thrissur.

Former state finance minister K.M. Mani, who had to quit last year over allegations of corruption in the bar scam, filed his nomination in Palai constituency of Kottayam. Mani, who has won every election he contested from Palai since 1965, said the results of this poll will prove quite a few things.

Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate C.H. Kunjambhu, who lost in the Manjesweram constituency in Kasargode in 2011 but has been fielded again, filed his papers, while state Sports Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan filed his papers in Kottayam.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has won every election he contested since 1970, will file his nomination papers in the Puthupally constituency in Kottayam on April 29 - the last date of filing nominations.

--IANS

sg/vd