The Socialist Janata (Democratic) will contest from Palakkad in the Lok Sabha elections.
Party State president M.P. Veerendrakumar told reporters here on Monday that the party has decided to contest in the constituency to keep the ruling UDF intact and because the problems that Kerala and the rest of the country faced in the current elections were exceptional. The party would name its candidate after the SJ(D) parliamentary board meeting here on Tuesday, he said.
Although the SJ(D) leader declined to say who the party candidate would be, party sources hinted at the possibility of Mr. Veerendrakumar himself being the party nominee in Palakkad. Apparently, the Congress leadership is keen that Mr. Veerendrakumar should contest on behalf of his party in Palakkad.
Mr. Veerendra Kumar’s announcement about his party’s decision to accept the UDF leadership’s offer came after discussions between SJ(D) leaders and the Congress leadership, represented by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, here. The SJ(D), Mr. Veerendrakumar said, had sought the Vadakara or Wayanad seats. However, the Congress leaders expressed their inability to part with these seats and requested his party to contest Palakkad, which the UDF had lost in the 2009 elections by a slender margin of around 1,000 votes.
The SJ(D) leader said RSP’s exit from the LDF was a big blow to the Opposition alliance. The LDF leadership had humiliated the RSP and with the RSP leaving the LDF, the Left Front has ceased to exist. If the UDF could maintain total unity, it would be able to win all the 20 seats in the State, Mr. Veerendrakumar said.
