KOZHIKODE: A significant change in the election strategy of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which supported the UDF in Manjeshwar and LDF in Nemom to ensure the defeat of the BJP in the last assembly poll, may brighten the chances of the BJP in the coming election.
SDPI state president C P Abdul Latheef told the media that the party does not think that it is the sole responsibility of the party to defeat the BJP.
“The BJP has come first in 11 assembly seats and second in nine seats. If the anti-BJP stand of the LDF and the UDF is sincere they should field a common candidate in the constituencies where the BJP has a winning chance,” he said.
Latheef said that if both the fronts agree on fielding a common candidate, the SDPI will extend support. To a question, he added that there is a good chance that the party may field a candidate in Manjeshwar but a decision has not been taken in this regard.
The party believes that it has around 10,000 votes in the constituency. It may be recalled that Manjeshwar is a constituency BJP is eyeing for the past few elections.
The party’s former state president K Surendran lost the seat last time by just 855 votes. In the 2016 elections, UDF’s victory margin over Surendran was a mere 89 votes. It is widely believed that CPM diverted its votes to the IUML to ensure the defeat of the BJP here. The party may not resort to such a strategy again in the coming assembly polls in the changed political circumstances.
SDPI has some influence especially in the Muslim-majority areas in the constituency. There will be a division in Muslim votes, which will eventually benefit the BJP candidate in a tightly-contested election. It is learnt that Surendran has shown active interest to contest from Manjeshwar.
There is a strong feeling among party workers that there is no need to go after the LDF or the UDF, which publicly decline to accept the party’s support. They want the party to contest elections on its own and systematically build the party.