Following conciliatory talks and pressure tactics, a majority of rebel candidates who submitted their nomination papers for the local body polls, challenging the Indian Union Muslim League’s official list of candidates, withdrew from the scene on Monday. The talks, however, failed to convince three candidates from Kunnamangalam who decided to remain in the fray ignoring possible disciplinary action.
Muslim Youth League (MYL) leaders who initiated talks with the rebels from their organisation said those who had defied the party’s official list were found to have close alliance with LDF functionaries, and that they would be expelled from the League.
One of the three rebels who refused to withdraw the nomination papers to contest from Kunnamangalam block was earlier part of the Indian National League, and his presence in the fray against the official candidate will never upset the results, they said.
The entry of rebels, especially the annoyed MYL activists from Meladi, Nadapuram, Perambra, and Kunnamangalam, had posed a challenge to the party leadership, as many of them had started their own campaigns. Some had also won the support of local activists, causing further dilemma for the party.
IUML sources said petty arguments over seat-sharing within the UDF had even led to the entry of rebels in some locations. However, the amicable settlement of those issues resulted in the timely withdrawal of all such nominations and the approval of the official list of candidates, they added.
At the same time, the MYL’s complaint to the IUML leadership that none of their candidates was given a ticket to contest in the city corporation and the district panchayat was ignored. An MYL leader said the call for a reasonable increase in the number of seats allotted to the party in local panchayats and municipalities was also not considered in the expected manner.
He added that the disgruntlement within the youth organisation had already been communicated to the IUML leadership.