Nine sitting MLAs of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and Opposition Congress headed UDF are in the poll arena in Kerala, waging a do-or-die battle to secure maximum seats for their parties in the Lok Sabha polls.
Both the fronts have finalised their candidates and have already hit the campaign trail.
However, the Congress leadership is yet to officially release the names of candidates of two constituencies-- Vatakara and Wayanad.
Polls in 20 parliamentary seats in Kerala will be held in a single phase on April 23.
The BJP, which has only one MLA, has slammed this trend of fielding legislators for the general election, saying it amounted to "mocking" the people of the state.
Kerala, which has witnessed bipolar polity since its formation in 1956, is all set for a highly-charged electoral battle this time with the BJP hoping to open its account to the Lok Sabha from the southern state.
The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded the most number of MLAs -- six.
With K Muraleedharan being expected to be fielded from Vatakara, the number of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) MLAs has gone up to three.
The LDF MLAs in fray are: A Pradeep Kumar (Kozhikode), M Ariff (Alappuzha), CPI's Chittayam Gopakumar (Mavelikkara), Veena George (Pathanamthitta), P V Anwar (Ponnani) and C Divakaran of CPI (Thiruvananthapuram).
Hibi Eden (Ernakulam), Adoor Prakash (Attingal) are the two other MLAs of the UDF in the poll arena.
BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillai said in a release that the decision to field sitting MLAs before the end of their term amounts to "a mockery of democracy and the Legislative assembly".
He also alleged that the trend was due to the lack of good candidates for the Left and the UDF in the state.
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