In the upcoming Assembly Elections, Kerala will see at least five young candidates contesting against some senior opponents from other parties.
The CPI(M) of the Left Democratic Front has fielded four candidates, all below 30 years of age. These candidates have been local body leaders or leaders of the Students’ Federation of India ( SFI), the CIP(M)’s student’s wing. The Congress, on the other hand, has fielded just one young candidate – Aritha Babu.
Lets take a look at these young faces.
Jaick Thomas
Jaick Thomas, the 26-year-old candidate from Kottayam’s Puthupally, holds a bachelor’s degree in Communicative English from CMS College, Kottyam. He became popular as the state President of SFI. Congress veteran and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will also be contesting from the same constituency.
This is not the first time Thomas will be contesting against Chandy. In the 2016 Assembly elections, he had contested against Chandy from Puthupally, winning the second largest vote share with 33.4 percent. That year, Chandy had emerged as the winner with a vote share of 53.7 percent.
P Midhuna
P Midhuna, a 28-year-old Dalit woman, will contest from Malappuram’s Wandoor constituency, which is a reserved seat. She was the president of the Pallikal gram panchayat in Malappuram for five years and also reportedly the youngest panchayat president in the district.
Midhuna had won the 2015 local body elections as a UDF candidate, but was later suspended for sharing the stage with LDF’s KT Jaleel.
She will go up against sitting Congress MLA AP Anil Kumar.
KM Sachin Dev
A lawyer with a degree from the Government Law College of Kozhikode, 28-year-old KM Sachin Dev is the state Secretary of SFI. He will be contesting from Kozhikode’s Balussery, which is the sitting seat of LDF’s Purushan Kadalundi.
Sachin will be taking on Congress candidate actor Dharmajan Bolgatty.
Linto Joseph
One of the youngest CPI(M) members, Linto Joseph is the president of the Koodaranhi Gram Panchayat in Kozhikode. He will be contesting from Thiruvambady in Kozhikode against IUML’s CP Cheriya Muhammed.
Aritha Babu
One of the youngest candidates of the Congress, 27-year-old Aritha Babu will be contesting from Alappuzha’s Kayamkulam constituency. Hailing from a marginalised family, Aritha supports her family by selling milk. She is a post-graduate in Social Work and is pursuing masters in Commerce . She is contesting against U Pratibha, CPI(M)‘s leading sitting MLA in Kayamkulam.
Babu was elected as the Alappuzha District Panchayat president in 2015, reportedly the youngest member at the time.
(With inputs from The News Minute)
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