Assembly polls: Congress decided candidates on 'caste, religious lines', alleges Kerala INTUC

Kochi (Kerala) [India], March 12 : R Chandrasekharan, Kerala unit president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), has criticised the Congress for deciding candidates for the upcoming state assembly polls on "the basis of caste and religion".
"The candidates in Congress have been decided on the basis of caste, religion, and groups. The personal interests of some leaders are reflected in the selection of candidates," Chandrasekharan said in a press meet on Friday.
"Congress should also consider naming candidates from the labour sector. It should immediately reconsider and take a decision in this regard. It must be prepared to field strong labour leaders. If not, the INTUC will field strong labour leaders in each district as candidates," he added.
The INTUC state president also added that they have constituted a seven-member sub-committee to look into the matter, which is going to meet on Sunday and decide on the next steps.
"We had spoken to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran about this a week ago. As he suggested, we reduced our demand for 15 seats to five seats. We demand that the Congress should give five seats to labour leaders of the INTUC to contest in the assembly election," he further said.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly in 14 districts will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will be held on May 2.