The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) has decided to allot the Kottayam Lok Sabha seat to the Janata Dal (Secular). The CPI(M) State leadership has communicated to the JD(S) leaders that the party would consider their request for a seat.
Based on this assurance, the party has also directed its Kottayam unit to suspend the campaign that it has launched for P.K. Harikumar, former Vaikom municipal chairman, whom the party had decided to field in the constituency.
The JD(S) leadership originally sought Thiruvananthapuram to field A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar and then looked at the possibility of getting Kozhikode, Vadakara or Kannur.
When the CPI(M) expressed its inability to spare any of these seats, the party’s choices narrowed down to Kottayam or Idukki. Since the CPI(M) had at one point of time offered to give Kottayam, the party evinced interest in the seat.
The CPI(M) was amenable to the suggestion. Although the discussions between the two parties moved in this direction, a formal decision on the choice of seat would be taken only at the LDF State committee meeting here on Wednesday.
The JD(S) is currently on the lookout for a candidate for the constituency.
ReservationsThe CPI(M) leadership has decided not to change any of its other candidates, though there were reservations about former civil servant Christy Fernandez in Ernakulam and A.N. Shamseer in Vadakara.
The party has also directed the Idukki district committee to identify a person who could be fielded in Idukki.
The party had deferred a decision on selection of candidate for the constituency to see how the rift in the UDF between the Congress and the Kerala Congress (Mani) evolves.
Now that the KC(M) has lowered its banner of rebellion, the party has decided to go ahead and field a party nominee in the constituency.
The LDF suffered a minor setback when the Indian National League (INL) announced in Kozhikode that it was parting company with the Opposition alliance and would field its nominees in five constituencies.
All India Forward Bloc, part of the Left alliance at the national level, also dealt a minor blow to the alliance with its general secretary G. Devarajan announcing that he would contest from Kollam where the CPI(M) decided to field party Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby.
