KC(M) entry likely as Mani meets LDF leaders

His shift create rumblings in both fronts

Kerala Congress(M) leader Jose K. Mani with CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and UDF convenor A. Vijayaraghavan during his visit to AKG centre in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

The optics of Kerala Congress(M) leader Jose K. Mani’s high-profile visits to the headquarters of two major constituents of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Friday appeared to convey the impression that his entry into the ruling front was a certainty.

Mr. Mani drove to the CPI headquarters at MN Smarakam from the AKG Centre. He met CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran and later closeted himself with CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and LDF convenor A. Vijayaraghavan.

A phalanx of reporters tailed Mr. Mani who later expressed optimism that the LDF would open its door for the KC(M) ahead of the local body polls.

However, Mr. Mani’s optimism seemed to be at odds with the rumblings of discontent his political shift had purportedly kindled in the opposing fronts.

A State committee meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Kochi, an LDF ally, reportedly signalled that it was averse to sacrificing any of its three Assembly seats, including the ‘hard-won’ Pala held by Mani. C. Kappan, to satisfy Mr. Mani.

Mr. Balakrishnan dismissed the report and said disappointment awaited those who hoped for a mutiny in the ruling front. NCP was in lockstep with the LDF. Give and take was the linchpin of coalition politics. Seat adjustments were usual, he said.

The Congress also appeared to feel the aftermath of Mr. Mani’s abandonment of the UDF. K. Muraleedharan, MP, blamed the party leadership for failing to keep Mr. Mani in the coalition. A trivial dispute over a district panchayat chairmanship on the eve of the local body polls had cost the UDF a long-standing partner.

Mr. Muraleedharan’s public statement seemed to have caught the UDF by surprise as it struggled to come to terms with Mr. Mani’s defection. His pronouncement seemed to cast doubts on the UDF’s public stance that Mr. Mani’s desertion would not sway its traditional base in Central Travancore. KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran said Mr. Mani’s faction was a spent force. He reminded Mr. Muraleedharan that the Congress had welcomed him and late K. Karunakaran despite their desertion of the party in 2005.