THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mayor Arya Rajendran explained the reasons behind not contesting the local body elections. Arya told a media outlet that the party have the ultimatum on whether a person should contest or not. When asked about her chances of contesting in the upcoming assembly polls, Arya feigned ignorance. While commenting on her critics labelling her as "condescending", Arya chided that it was mansplaining.

It is not new for CPM to field former Mayors in assembly polls. Former mayors V Sivankutty and VK Prashanth are now members of the assembly. One of them is the education minister of Kerala. As per news from party insiders, CPM is taking a similar path in Arya’s case.

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