KOCHI: The NCP-LDF saga is heading for a climax with the final chapter being written in New Delhi.
The NCP faction led by Pala MLA Mani C Kappan is slated to join the UDF and the party’s state unit, in all likelihood, is headed for a split after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan officially informed the party’s national general secretary Praful Patel that the Pala seat cannot be allocated to NCP.
UDF insiders said Kappan will join the Aishwarya Kerala Yatra led by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala at Pala, when the rally enters Kottayam district on Sunday.NCP sources said Kappan is expected to announce his decision to leave LDF on Friday after the conclusion of the ongoing discussions with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and Patel. NCP state president T P Peethambaran is also in New Delhi for the discussions. CPM has already agreed to grant the seat to Kerala Congress (M), headed by Jose K Mani.
“CPM has not shown political dignity towards NCP. We could not accept the move to hand over the Pala seat to the party that we defeated last time. A final call will be announced by the national leadership on Friday,” Kappan told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday.The meeting in New Delhi was convened amid reports that Pinarayi had expressed unwillingness to allocate the Pala seat to NCP and suggested that Kappan contest from Kuttanad instead. This was conveyed during a phone conversation between Pinarayi and Patel recently.
Meanwhile, the NCP Pala block committee passed a resolution demanding that the seat not be handed over to the party that tasted defeat last time and that Kappan should be fielded from there. By asking Kappan to contest from another seat, LDF is conceding to KC(M)’s claim despite the party’s defeat, feel NCP leaders.
Kappan currently enjoys the support of a few leaders, including Peethambaran, in the NCP state committee and four district committees including Kottayam and Alappuzha.The rebel faction supporting Transport Minister A K Saseendran is against a split. However, amid rumours that CPM may take over the Elathur assembly seat this time, they too are keenly awaiting the outcome of the discussions in New Delhi.