Lok Sabha Elections 2019: List of key candidates in Southern state of Kerala

The Lok Sabha Elections 2019 saw a triangular fight between the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) the (CPIM), the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 20 Parliamentary seats of Kerala. All the 20 constituencies went to polls in the third phase on April 23. News Nation brings you the key contestants of the state. Here are the key contestants in the state: 

1. Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor (Congress) Vs Kummanam Rajasekharan (BJP) Vs C Divakaran (CPI)

Congress senior leader Shashi Tharoor will be facing a tough battle against CPI's Divakaran and BJP's Kummanam Rajasekharan this time. In 2014, Tharoor managed to win the seat and defeated BJP's O Rajagopal by just over 15,000 votes. Tharoor represented the seat in 2009 also. 

In the last seven elections, the Congress won the seat four times -- 1998, 1999, 2009 and 2014 -- whereas the CPI represented the seat three times in 1996, 2004 and 2005 (bypoll).

2. Wayanad: Rahul Gandhi (Congress) Vs Thushar Vellapally (BDJS) Vs PP Suneer (CPI)

Apart from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also contesting from Kerala's Wayanad. MI Shanavas of Congress represented the seat twice in 2009 and 2014. The seat was formed in 2009 after the delimitation process. The Gandhi scion will be facing NDA candidate Thushar Vellapally and CPI's PP Suneer in Wayanad. 

3. Pathanamthitta : Anto Antony (Congress) Vs K Surendran (BJP) Vs Veena George (CPM) 

Congress candidate Anto Antony is once again in the fray from Pathanamthitta and will be facing BJP's K Surendran and CPM candidate Veena George. In 2014, Antony defeated independent candidate P Thomas by over 56,000 votes. Notably, Antony won the seat in 2009 also.

4. Ernakulam: Hibi Eden (Congress) Vs Alphons Kannanthanam (BJP) Vs P Rajeev (CPM) 

Senior Congress leader KV Thomas represented Ernakulam five times in 1984, 1989, 1991, 2009 and 2014. However, the party has this time fielded Hibi Eden from the constituency to take on Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam. In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Thomas defeated Christy Fernandez by more than 87,000 votes.

In the last eight elections, the Congress won the seat four times, whereas the Left-backed independent candidates won the seat four times as well.

5. Thrissur: TN Prathapan (Congress) Vs Suresh Gopi (BJP) Vs Rajaji Mathew Thomas (CPI)

In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, CPI candidate CN Jayadevan defeated Congress candidate KP Dhanapalan by over 38,000 votes. This time, BJP's Suresh Gopi, Congress leader TN Prathapan and CPI candidate Rajaji Mathew Thomas will lock horns in Thrissur. In the last seven elections, the CPI represented the seat four times in 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2014, whereas the Congress won the seat in 1991, 1999 and 2009.

Prominent candidates in Kerala in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

The Lok Sabha Elections 2019 for 542 of 543 constituencies, held in seven phases, concluded on May 19. The BJP-led NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a second term in the office. Congress-led UPA under Sonia Gandhi's leadership is looking to make a comeback in power. 

In Kerala, in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the Congress-led UPA had won 12 seats of 20, while the CPI(M)-led LDF bagged eight constituencies. Interestingly, the BJP was not able to win single seat in the state.  

However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA won 336 seats of 543, while the UPA won 59 seats, 44 of which were won by the Congress.

According to the Exit Poll conducted by News Nation, there would be a saffron surge in Kerala with 1-3 seats (14 per cent vote share), the Congress/UDF on the other hand is likely to get 11-13 seat with 38 per cent of vote share and the ruling Communist Party Marxist (CPM) may get 5 to 7 seats with 34 per cent vote share.