Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 26 (IANS): Ahead of the local body polls, the Congress here on Saturday made it mandatory for anybody seeking to be considered a party candidate to first subscribe to the party's daily -- Veekshanam.

In a circular State Congress president V.M. Sudheeran asked party office bearers for a check list of prospective candidates who can be fielded in the upcoming polls, with one of the conditions being that such candidates should be subscribers of Veekshanam.

The local body elections in Kerala are expected to take place before November 15 and a minimum of 12,000 seats of the around 22,000 total seats will be up for grabs for Congress aspirants in the three-tier local body structure in Kerala.

The Congress party is the biggest party in the ruling United Democratic Front.

"With a good rush of aspirants, and if one were to estimate that there would be a minimum of three for each seat that the Congress party will field, the least one can see is a jump of around 25,000 copies of the party organ. You can discount that some aspirants will already be subscribing to it," said a Congress leader seeking anonymity.

Veekshanam, a Malayalam daily newspaper and the organ of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, was revived in 2003. Since then, its circulation could not be pushed to the party's expectation level. The latest directive is certain to prove good news for it.