KOCHI: In a jolt to Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) after it was denied a Lok Sabha seat by the CPM, a section of leaders under former MLA M K Premnath has decided to join the Samajwadi Party (SP).
A formal meeting was held at Kochi in this regard on Thursday and the merger will be conducted later, according to the leaders.
“M P Veerendrakumar and M V Sreyams Kumar, the president of LJD state unit, said the LDF would allocate a seat either to Kozhikode or Vadakara. A consensus has reached in the party that if it happens so, Premnath, who represented Vadakara in the Assembly, would be fielded as candidate.
However, the CPM informed they could not allocate a seat for the party though it included the outfit as an LDF ally recently. In this circumstance, the party lost its relevance,” said a leader. SP state president N O Kuttappan and other leaders took part in the talks along with Premnath and LJD state secretary Vijayan Parakkal.
When the party headed by Veerendrakumar was in the UDF, they were allocated the Palakkad LS seat and the Rajya Sabha seat to him. However, when the party switched sides to the LDF, they denied the LS seat, leaders pointed out.Veerendrakumar, who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP, is not officially associated with the LJD, the outfit floated by Sharad Yadav, while the leaders who are with him in the JD(U) are the leaders of the party in the state.