Kottayam (Keralam) [India], March 31 : A literature graduate and Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) candidate from the Ettumanoor seat in Keralam Ashna Thambi's election affidavit declares her net worth as just Rs 84. On the day of filing her nomination, Ashna said she had only Rs 40 in cash and Rs 44 in her bank account.
26-year-old Ashna Thambi told ANI that the party is raising money from people for election campaign.
"On the day of nomination filing, I only had that money in my hand. I belong to a poor family and I am a full-time worker of Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), which represents a people's movement. We are actually collecting money from the people who support us because we work for the people. So, we are raising money from the people for the election," she said.
SUCI(C) currently holds no seat in the Keralam Legislative Assembly. The Marxist-Leninist party has its presence in Keralam and West Bengal.
In Ettumanoor, Thambi will be up against Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s sitting MLA VN Vasavan and Congress' Nattakom Suresh.
Polling for the 2026 Keralam Legislative Assembly elections will be held on April 9, with the counting of votes on May 4. The tenure of the current assembly is set to conclude on May 23.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) seek to unseat the incumbent Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and gain control of the 140-member assembly. The LDF-led government has governed the state for around a decade.
Around 2.7 crore electors are expected to participate in the election. Following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state electoral roll, the final voter list for Keralam was released on February 21. The revised roll includes 2,69,53,644 voters--1,31,26,048 male voters, 1,38,27,319 female voters, and 227 third-gender voters. Among them, 4,24,518 voters belong to the 18-19 age group.