The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) was unable to complete its seat-sharing exercise on Monday.
The LDF State committee, which met to discuss the issue, could not clinch the issue as all the minor partners came up with the demand for seats.
The most forceful among them was the Janata Dal (Secular), which staked claim to Thiruvananthapuram or Vadakara. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress (S) and Kerala Congress also staked claim to seats. The meeting finally decided to hold bilateral discussions between the CPI(M) and the respective parties and arrive at a consensus. The LDF panel would meet again on Wednesday to complete seat sharing within the alliance.
The LDF leadership has already arrived at the informal understanding that only CPI(M) and CPI would get to field candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. The CPI State leadership is understood to have decided to field Bennet Abraham from the Thiruvananthapuram seat.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) had walked out of the alliance on Saturday taking exception to this stand. Since the Thiruvananthapuram seat has already been allotted to the CPI and the CPI(M) cannot possibly run away from contesting in the Vadakara constituency, it might be difficult for the front leadership to concede the JD(S) demand for either of the seats.
Talking to The Hindu late Monday evening, JD(S) leaders said they were hopeful that the CPI(M) would see the rationale of their demand.
Leaders of the Forward Bloc and the Indian National League (INL) called on CPI(M) leaders on Monday with the request that they should be granted entry into the alliance. Neither of them received any firm assurance from the CPI(M) leadership. INL leaders told reporters that the party would take a decision on its future course of action at the party’s meeting at Kozhikode on Tuesday.
