The LDF completed its seat-sharing exercise on Thursday, ahead of its political rivals.
The CPI (M), the major partner in the Left alliance, will contest in as many 58 seats in the 74-member Kochi Corporation council leaving eight seats to CPI, three to NCP, two to Janata Dal (S) and one seat to Congress (S). The Front has also allotted one seat each to the INL and CPI (ML), the political parties cooperating with it as part of the poll strategy.
In Ernakulam District Panchayat, the CPI (M) will field its candidates in 17 seats. The front partners, CPI will contest in five, the NCP in two and the Janata Dal (S), Kerala Congress and Congress (S) in one seat each, said P. Rajeev, the district secretary of the CPI (M).
The front will release its poll manifesto at a people’s council to be held at Ernakulam Maharaja’s College on Sunday.
T.M. Thomas Issac, MLA, will inaugurate the session in which the list of candidates will also be released.
The election convention for the Kochi Corporation will be held on October 16 at Ernakulam Town Hall and will be inaugurated by CPI (M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The CPI State secretary Kanam Rajedran and other Left leaders will attend.
Meanwhile, the seat-sharing talks within the UDF remained inconclusive. The panel, which has been assigned the task of negotiating seats with the constituents, wase holding discussions late in the evening also.
The Muslim League has asked for two more seats besides the seven they contested last time. Discussions regarding the claims were progressing, said a League leader.
On its part, the BJP has decided to field its representatives in all the 74 divisions. Though the party is in talks with social organisations like Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, it has not reached any seat sharing pact. If the SNDP comes up with its list of candidates, they will be accommodated, said a senior BJP leader.
The Muslim League has asked for two more seats besides the seven it contested last time. Discussions regarding the claims were progressing, said a League leader.
