Kerala elections 2016: Candidates start filing nominations

Former Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani and Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan were among the candidates who filed their nominations on Friday for the May 16 Assembly elections after the Election Commission issued notifications.

The filing of nominations began at 11 am at various district collectorates after the Election Commission issued the notification for the polls to the 140 Assembly constituencies in the state. The filing of nominations will continue till April 29 and the scrutiny of papers will be held on April 30.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is May 2. BJP state President Kummanam Rajasekharan and former state unit chief V Muraleedharan also filed their nomination papers.

83-year-old Mani, leader of the Kerala Congress (M), a constituent of the ruling Congress-led UDF, who is contesting from Pala assembly constituency in Kottayam district, filed his nomination papers before the returning officer at Kottayam collectorate.

Mani, who holds the record of longest serving member of the state Assembly, had to resign from the Oommen Chandy cabinet in the wake of the corruption allegations against him in bar bribery scam. Besides Mani and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, K Muraleedharan, Padmaja Venugopal (both Congress) and C P John (CMP) also filed nominations from the UDF camp. The total strength of the electorate is 2,56,27,620, with women accounting for 1,33,01,435.