New Delhi, Mar. 8 : The CPI (M) has released its first list of 59 candidates in 16 states for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The list, which includes 17 sitting MPs, features only three women.
CPI (M) will announce the candidates for Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Lakshadweep in its second list, as seat sharing talks with allies in the states are still on.
"This is for the first time that the party is contesting from Lakshadweep," CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters after the two-day party Central Committee meeting on Sunday.