THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Long-time UDF ally CMP is set to stake claim on two seats, including the prestigious Thiruvananthapuram constituency, in the assembly elections next year.
Party sources said CMP will contest from Thiruvananthapuram if Congress agrees to hand over the seat. If it does, CMP general secretary C P John, who is also the UDF secretary and a resident of the constituency for many years, will be the candidate.
The CMP leadership has also decided to stake a claim for Nenmara in Palakkad. “We have decided to stick to our claim for two seats at any cost,” a CMP leader said.
Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, while inaugurating the 40th formation day of CMP in Thiruvananthapuram last month, had said UDF would give the party more than one seat and that it would also have more than one MLA in 2026.
For CMP, the seat holds importance as its founder leader, M V Raghavan, represented Thiruvananthapuram West constituency in 2001-2005 before it was changed to Thiruvananthapuram after delimitation.
However, the road is not likely to be easy for CMP as Congress leader and former minister V S Sivakumar is also toying with the idea of contesting from Thiruvananthapuram. Sivakumar represented the seat in the assembly from 2011 to 2021, and also won from Thiruvananthapuram in the general elections. However, he now resides in Vattiyoorkavu constituency.
The change in the constituency’s demography – with more coastal areas becoming a part of it – is a factor working in CMP’s favour. However, both John and Sivakumar have close connections in Thiruvananthapuram.
While the constituency had a major role in John’s student life as an SFI leader to growing as a seasoned politician, Sivakumar also - as Congress DCC president, two-time MLA, and one-term MP has close-knit connections here.
For the CMP, the next assembly election is crucial as the number of seats it had contested had drastically dropped over the years. When MV Raghavan came out of LDF, it had four MLAs in 1987. Since then, till 2006, it contested three seats. “We have been with the UDF for the last 40 years. We will contest in two seats this time,” a CMP leader said.