KOCHI: Stung by the losses in the local body elections, the Congress and its allies have decided to accommodate more parties and allocate seats to the constituents in a flexible manner. The aim is to avoid rebels and mutinies within the parties or UDF in the assembly elections. The front has also reached an agreement to share the seats of Kerala Congress (M) and LJD, which joined the LDF, among the constituents in an amicable manner. However, the Congress, the main constituent, will not surrender to unnecessary pressure tactics of the allies but give consideration to their reasonable demands.
Also, AICC secretaries P Viswanathan, Ivan D’Souza, and P V Mohan, who are in charge of Kerala, are collecting feedback from senior party leaders in the wake of the local body poll debacle. They will submit a report to the high command about the political situation prevailing in the state once the meetings in all 14 districts are completed.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the party leaders have reached a general agreement to field youngsters and fresh faces, and keep out veterans like P J Kurien, K V Thomas, M M Hassan, K C Joseph and K Babu, among others. The UDF allies also will prefer fresh faces as candidates. “Now the AICC secretaries are taking stock of the situation by meeting leaders. Based on their report, the high command will devise the campaign strategy. A general feeling in the party is that fielding fresh faces, women, and youth leaders will increase the poll prospects. Hence, the old guard who contested three or more times should definitely be eliminated from even the list of probable candidates. The team headed by AICC observer Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, will take the final call on the candidates and other poll-related affairs,” said a senior Congress leader.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which had earlier hoped to wrest the maximum number of seats, has also softened its stand amid allegations that it will hijack the Congress-led UDF. The Kerala Congress P J Joseph faction, which had staked claim on all 15 seats earlier contested by the united KC(M), has also changed its stand.
The constituents will exchange a few seats among themselves considering the winnability. The League wishes to contest in Thavanur against Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel as the party is confident of winning the seat. Instead of this, League will hand over Perinthalmanna or another seat from its quota to the Congress which contested in Thavanur last time. Another discussion doing the rounds is the exchange of Perambra and Thiruvambady seats by IUML and KC Joseph faction.
The Perambra seat contested by KC(M) will be handed over to League, which has more chances there, and accept Thiruvambady from it.“Learning lessons from the poll debacle, UDF constituents have become more united. They have learnt that the upcoming assembly elections are a do or die battle for all of them,” said a UDF leader, who requested anonymity.
The UDF will commence the formal seat-sharing talks after the conclusion of the ‘Kerala Yatra’ to be led by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. Though the expansion of the front is also on the agenda, a general agreement is to field Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leader P C George, MLA, as an independent instead of accommodating his party as a constituent.
OLD guard out?
There are reports that leaders of the Congress party have reached a general agreement to field more youngsters and fresh faces, and keep out veterans like P J Kurien, K V Thomas, M M Hassan, K C Joseph and K Babu. Reportedly, other allies of the UDF also prefer fresh faces as candidates.
exchange season
Allies including the Indian Union Muslim League and the Kerala Congress (M) Joseph faction, which had earlier staked claim on various seats of their preference, seem to have softened their stand. The constituents will exchange a few seats among themselves considering the winnability of the front.