KOZHIKODE: The Popular Front of India (PFI), which was formed after the merger of the National Development Front (NDF) in Kerala, Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and Manitha Neethi Pasarai in Tamil Nadu, is giving finishing touches to the national political party which will be launched within a few months.
Sources said PFI has identified a few names like the Social Democratic Party of India and United Peoples Party, but the final decision has to come from the Election Commission. They added that efforts are on to form units in 18 states in the country.
The party will have two kinds of membership: a cadre member and an affiliate member. The smallest unit of the party will be the branch committee. Above it there will be panchayat, constituency and district committees. A central ad-hoc committee also will be formed to oversee the process of party formation.
The National Political Conference of the PFI, held here in February 2009, decided to form a national political party mainly to address the problems of the Muslims in the country. Delegates from various states had attended the conference.
Get-togethers of workers were held in many states as a follow-up of the conference.
“The feedback we got was tremendous,” said a source in the PFI.
Though the party will mainly focus on Muslim issues, it will also be a broad platform for the Dalits and the backward classes. What triggered the formation of the party is the realisation that political empowerment is the need of the hour for the Muslim in India.
PFI claims that the new political party will not be controlled by the organisation.
Even those who are members of the PFI also can join the party.
“The PFI will continue to exist even after the formation of the party.” Sources said the PFI offered support to the UDF in 18 constituencies in the last Lok Sabha elections and actively engaged in the campaign to make the party workers to get first-hand experience of election work. The formation of a political party by the PFI will be a jolt for the IUML because many of the cadres of the PFI are the members of the League too. It remains to be seen how many of the IUML cadres will shift their loyalty after the formation of the new party.
The League can no longer continue its dilly-dallying with the PFI and will be forced to come up with a clear cut stand.
Sources said the new party can gain ground in the southern part of Kerala where the IUML’s presence is negligible.
