Kerala polls: Party decides candidature, not individuals, says Shailaja

Kozhikode: CPM central committee member and former health minister K K Shailaja said that in her party, individual leaders do not have the prerogative to voice personal preferences regarding candidature and added that CPM takes such decisions collectively after discussions.Addressing reporters on Tuesday, she said her candidature in Peravoor was in line with the party's policy that MLAs, who have represented a stronghold constituency for two consecutive terms, need not continue from the same seat. "My candidature in Peravoor is a party decision. In our party, we do not have personal preferences and we cannot say that we will contest from a particular seat. The decision is taken collectively by the party based on the political situation," she said.Responding to remarks by rebel leader T K Govindan that she was shifted from Mattannur to Peravoor to sideline her, Shailaja said no one within the party had made such a claim.She said the party wanted DYFI state president V K Sanoj, who hails from Mattannur, to enter the legislative assembly. "It is not necessary that I should contest. Still, the party asked me to contest and be a part of the assembly," she said, adding that the party had given her the stronghold seat of Koothuparamba in her first election when she was only an area committee member.On party leaders like G Sudhakaran, T K Govindan and V Kunhikrishnan ending their long association with CPM and contesting as rebels with UDF support, Shailaja said it was a rare development in CPM and that the party was viewing the matter seriously."There have been instances in the past where leaders left the party, mostly due to differences over policy. But what has happened now is not of that nature. It appears to be driven by personal reasons and more importantly, they are seeking support from a front whose policies they had opposed all along," she said.Shailaja added that the developments were not due to any shortcomings on the part of the party while maintaining that its positions and decisions are correct.