LJD hopeful of securing Vadakara seat

Party claims its vote bank in Kozhikode, Kannur intact

After becoming part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) is hopeful of securing the Vadakara seat for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

The Vadakara Lok Sabha seat, and retaining the Rajya Sabha seat held by M.P. Veerendrakumar, were part of the deal the LJD had stuck with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) before the recent LDF expansion. “The party wants to begin the seat-sharing excise before the two rallies to be led by CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran from Thiruvananthapuram and Kasaragod respectively on February 14 and February 16. But this has been set aside now,” LJD State secretary general Sheikh P. Haris told The Hindu on Tuesday.

No elected reps

A major factor that prompts the LJD to seek a seat is that the party has no elected representative either in the Assembly or the Lok Sabha unlike its rival Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)], which has representatives in the Assembly. The JD(S) is hopeful of getting the Kottayam seat it contested last time or the Thiruvananthapuram seat if the CPI concedes to coalition adjustments. Besides, as JD(U), when the party was with the Congress-led UDF, its State president Mr. Veerendrakumar had unsuccessfully contested the Palakkad seat.

Perhaps no other political party in the State had undergone such a metamorphosis in the past decade, renaming itself and switching coalition loyalties. From the original JD(S) led by H.D. Deve Gowda, the party formed the Socialist Janata (Democratic) and then merged with the Janata Dal (United), before reaching its present avatar.

“However, these transformations in party names and symbols have not eroded our vote bank either in rural Kozhikode and parts of Kannur, as evident from the fact that the CPI(M) had failed to win the Kozhikode or Vadakara seats in the past two Lok Sabha elections,” Mr. Haris said.

Bilateral talks

Already, the CPI(M) has begun bilateral talks with other LDF constituents, particularly the CPI. Though accommodating more parties in the LDF brighten the electoral prospects of the coalition, it is also giving a headache for the CPI(M). The Kerala Congress (B) led by R. Balakrishna Pillai and the Indian National League may not claim seats. But the LJD and the Kerala Congress (Democratic) led by Francis George are expecting a seat each, and that too at the expense of the CPI (M).

CPI(M) sources said the party was on the horns of a dilemma as it wanted to win more seats from Kerala and at the same time propitiate its new-found constituents. Nevertheless, it does not want to damage its poll prospects like it had in 2009.