A meeting of the Left Democratic Front State committee here on Friday formally cleared the sharing of Lok Sabha seats between the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The CPI is contesting four seats and the CPI(M) 16.
All LDF constituents had staked their claim to one seat or the other, but the Janata Dal (S) and the Loktantrik Janata Dal were quite determined to have their due. The JD(S) had even threatened to take decisive action but fell in line ultimately. The LJD leadership is understood to have said they were accepting the decision under protest. Their main grouse was that the decision to share the 20 seats between the CPI(M) and the CPI was made without due consultations.
The Kerala Congress(Democratic), Nationalist Congress Party, and the Indian National League too accepted the decision of the two major constituents.
The CPI national leadership had already approved and announced the list of candidates forwarded from the State. The CPI(M) would make a formal announcement of its nominees on Saturday after finalising its candidate for Ponnani.
LDF convener A.Vijayaraghavan told reporters here that all allies accepted the decision and were convinced of the current seat-sharing formula.
Asked about the increase in the number of seats being contested by the CPI(M), Mr.Vijayaraghavan said there was a change in the political situation over the years and the decision was made after exhaustive consultations among the allies.
Main agenda
He also clarified that all allies had their representatives in the Assembly and the limited number of Lok Sabha seats was the main issue. The main agenda was to upstage the Bharatiya Janata Party from power and there was unity on it. Election conventions would be held from Sunday to March 20.
