Thiruvananthapuram: Election dates for 3 Rajya Sabha seats in Kerala have been announced. The election is on June 25. The seats of MPs Binoy Viswam (CPI), Elamaram Karim (CPM) and Jose K Mani (Kerala Congress M) are vacant. The term of all three will expire on July 1. The CPI and the Kerala Congress (M) have also staked claim to the Rajya Sabha seat, which would go to a constituent party of the LDF. Kerala Congress has decided to compromise on Rajya Sabha seats. State Secretary Binoy Vishwam also took a stand that the CPI’s seat belongs to the CPI itself. When Binoy Vishwam and Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K Mani vacate at the same time, only one party will get a seat out of the two.
Of the 3 vacancies, one of the two that the LDF gets naturally belongs to the CPM.
The strength of MLAs for Rajya Sabha seats is usually the criterion. In that case, the CPI with 17 MLAs will have to give the upper hand. They can claim the strength to get 2 Rajya Sabha members. Kerala Congress (M) has 5 MLAs. But CPI also has P Santosh Kumar as Rajya Sabha member.
