The seat-sharing talks held between leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Socialist Janata (Democratic) [SJ(D)] here on Saturday remained inconclusive with the Congress leadership saying that it will have to consult the party high command before taking a final decision on the SJ(D) demand for a seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
At a press conference here on Saturday, SJ(D) leader M.P. Veerendrakumar said his party had demanded either the Vadakara or the Wayanad seat from where the Congress had won comfortably in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Mr. Veerendrakumar contended that though these seats were sitting seats of the Congress, the SJ(D) had contributed to the success of their candidates. The SJ(D) candidates had won from the Assembly segments that formed part of the Vadakara and the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituencies. He said the SJ(D) was promised the Vadakara seat in the last election but had decided against fielding its candidate then.
Regarding the offer of a Rajya Sabha seat instead of the Lok Sabha seat, Mr. Veerendrakumar said the issue cropped up but would not divulge details of the discussion. UDF convener P.P. Thankachan, who held talks with Mr. Veerendrakumar, said the SJ(D) had asked for the Vadakara seat but was told about the “practical difficulties in conceding the demand.”
