KOTTAYAM: Softening his stand on the Pala assembly seat, NCP leader Mani C Kappan on Thursday said he would do what party chief Sharad Pawar asks him to do. “My leader is Pawar. I’ll vacate Pala if he asks me to do so,” Kappan, who returned from Delhi after the leadership meeting on Wednesday, told reporters here.
Kappan, who defeated Jose Tom of UDF in the bypolls in 2019, has been adamant that he would not vacate the seat after the Jose K Mani faction of KC(M) joined the LDF. This followed reports that the Left promised Pala seat to KC(M) if the party join the ruling front.
Kappan said other decisions, including the seats to be contested by NCP, will be decided after meetings with NCP national leader Praful Patel. He also ruled out contesting the Pala seat in UDF ticket. “Am I mad?” Kappan responded when specifically asked if he would contest the assembly elections on UDF ticket.