T’puram: The Congress leadership is struggling to finalise its candidates’ list for the upcoming assembly elections even 24 hours after the election schedule was announced.The delay comes despite claims from opposition leader V D Satheesan that the party would release its first list of candidates within a day of the announcement of the poll dates. He had even suggested that the leadership required only an hour to finalise the list. However, the deadline has passed without any announcement, with senior leaders continuing to lobby aggressively to secure tickets for their nominees. Adding to the complexity is the pressure from some MPs who are keen to contest. Among them, K Sudhakaran is understood to be firm about contesting from Kannur while Adoor Prakash is eyeing Konni. Despite marathon discussions, the party high command has reportedly been unable to persuade the two leaders to reconsider their positions.The KPCC leadership is also concerned that the eventual announcement of candidates could trigger fresh rounds of infighting. Party sources indicated that during discussions in New Delhi, leaders had reached a tentative understanding to release the first list of candidates by Monday evening, followed by the remaining names the next day. However, the plan got delayed due to the lack of consensus over several constituencies. The party has managed to finalise one name in at least 50 seats, and the list is likely to be released by Tuesday morning if the leadership manages to iron out the differences in the remaining seats. Meanwhile, Satheesan is learnt to have conveyed his strong dissatisfaction over the delay to the AICC leadership during discussions on Monday. Sources said he warned that the prolonged uncertainty could undermine the political momentum generated by the party through the Puthu Yuga Yatra in the run-up to the polls.
