Thiruvananthapuram, March 20 Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, on Friday alleged that a section of the media spread false news about the Congress' candidate selection process at the behest of the CPI(M).
A day after reports in the media raised uncertainty about the candidature of Congress MPs K Sudhakaran and Adoor Prakash, Satheesan said that such reports would not deter the party from winning the upcoming assembly elections.
He also said that a number of false news were spread by some media outlets regarding the Congress' candidate selection for the assembly polls to be held on April 9.
"These reports were aired without consulting the concerned individuals, and even before the Congress had any discussions regarding the candidature of those leaders. It was unfortunate that some mainstream media also picked up such reports."
"This is being done at the behest of the AKG Centre (CPI(M) Kerala headquarters). But it will not affect our chances of winning. The UDF will win over 100 seats in the assembly polls," the opposition leader told reporters here.
He said that both Sudhakaran and Prakash have clearly stated that the party is more important than them.
Satheesan also reiterated that there was no delay in candidate selection by the Congress.
He said that the process started late, not within 24 hours, as he had previously stated, because the chairman of the screening committee was unwell.
Congress, which is contesting in 92 seats, released the first list of 55 candidates on March 17 and the second list of the remaining 37 names on Thursday.
Besides that, Congress has given three of its seats to former CPI(M) leaders who have left their party and will be contesting as independent candidates with the support of the grand old party.