THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though official-level bilateral talks between the Congress and its allies are scheduled on Friday, an understanding has been reached with most of the constituents except with the P J Joseph faction of Kerala Congress. While the Muslim League will be getting additional two or three seats, the talks with Joseph faction have been deadlocked as it wants 12 seats.
Late on Thursday evening, the 40-member election committee of KPCC met at Indira Bhavan here. When all UDF allies were in the capital city coinciding with Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala’s Aishwarya Kerala Yatra culmination on Tuesday, unofficial talks on seat sharing had taken place.
The Muslim League had initially demanded six more seats apart from the 24 they had contested in the last assembly elections. A senior League leader told TNIE that a positive stand will be taken which will be conducive for both the party and UDF once the official-level bilateral talks are held on Friday. However, the Joseph faction’s insistence on 12 seats is proving to be a stumbling block. P J Joseph is currently admitted at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram after he tested positive for Covid.
Joseph faction MLA Mons Joseph told TNIE that the group had already come down from their initial demand of 15 seats.“We had already informed the Congress that it will be better if the latter contests from Taliparamba and Alathur constituencies. Similarly, Pala seat has been parted with Mani C Kappan. We should be getting an honourable accommodation. Depending on the reaction of the Congress leadership, we will take a stand,” said Mons Joseph.
While efforts are on to give four assembly seats to the RSP, the smaller UDF allies like CMP, Kerala Congress (Jacob), Forward Bloc and Janata Dal (S) are likely to get only one seat each, even as the CMP and Forward Bloc have demanded “winnable” seats.