Kerala CM, 6 CPI(M) ministers in fray; FM Thomas Isaac denied poll ticket
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six of his cabinet colleagues have been fielded by the ruling CPI(M) for the April 6 state assembly elections, while Finance minister Thomas Issac has been denied a ticket this time.
The party on Wednesday released the list of 83 of its 85 candidates including nine CPI(M) supported independents.
Health Minister K K Shailaja, Labour minister T P Ramakrishnan, Power minister M M Mani,Devaswom minister Kadakkampally Surendran, Fisheries minister Mercykutty Amma and Local Self Government minister A C Moideen are trying their luck once again.
Vijayan will contest from Dharmadam constituency in Kannur district.
However, five ministers have been denied seats-- T M Thomas Isaac, E P Jayarajan, R Ravindranath, G Sudhakaran and A K Balan as the party decided not to provide seats to those who had been elected twice.
M V Govindan Master, K Radhakrishan, P Rajeev and K N Balagopal are the state secretariat members who are contesting. There are 12 women candidates in the list.
Candidates for Manjeshwaram and Devikulam constituencies would be announced later, Acting state secretary, A Vijayaraghavan, told reporters here.
The party's aim was not to deny tickets to anyone, but to give an opportunity to new candidates, he said. The CPI(M) led LDF is eyeing a second consecutive term this time.
In the 2016 polls, the LDF had won 91 seats in the 140- member assembly.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
