THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: UDF’s one-day meet, to be held at Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Development Studies at Neyyar on August 7, is likely to be a stormy affair with the Indian Union Muslim League demanding a third Lok Sabha seat from the state, sources said. Express had earlier reported that League has stakes its claim to Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general elections. The party’s contention is that the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat falls in the area which is predominantly a League constituency with large Muslim population.
A senior leader of the Muslim League, who did not want to be named, told Express: “Muslim League - the second largest constituent of the Front - is contesting only two Lok Sabha seats, while the CPI gets four seats from the LDF. We are asking for a proportionate representation which is a genuine need.”
Still stung from the ‘fifth minister’ controversy during the last UDF ministry, the Congress is in no mood to relent, said highly placed sources.
“League has been taking its pound of flesh from the Congress for the past several years.We will not allow it this time and want the status quo to be maintained as far as Lok Sabha seats are concerned,” he said.
With the Congress taking a strong opposition to League’s demand, tempers may fly in the camp.“How can we give away Wayanad which is our A plus seat? We wont budge,” said another Congress leader. “We want to have maximum number of winning seats from the state as this election is very crucial and we can’t sacrifice a Congress seat for a coalition partner,” he added.
However, sources indicated that Muslim League general secretary P K Kunhalikutty, who was instrumental in providing Congress’ sitting Rajya Sabha seat to Kerala Congress (Mani), will rope in K M Mani to help get one more Lok Sabha seat.“This meeting is not intended for such a discussion. This meeting is aimed at strengthening the UDF after Kerala Congress’s (Mani) re-entry,” Muslim League national organising secretary of E T Mohammed Basheer MP told Express.Kunhalikutty and K P A Majeed will represent League in the UDF meet.