Kerala Assembly Elections | Discontent in LDF over seat-sharing
KC(M) entry into front has not been acceptable to many partners.
The entry of the Jose K. Mani faction of the Kerala Congress(M) into the Left Democratic Front (LDF) has not only deprived existing partners of their traditional seats but has also caused discontentment in the CPI(M) as well.
In the seat-sharing arrangement, the CPI(M) had to sacrifice seven seats to its constituents, including its traditional seat Kuttiyadi in Kozhikode. Of this, five were the party’s sitting seats.
As of now the CPI(M) will contest 87 seats; Communist Party of India (CPI) 25, down from 27; Janata Dal (Secular) four; Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Indian National League, three each; and Congress (S), Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, Revolutionary Socialist Party (Leninist) and Kerala Congress (B) one each. The Kerala Congress (Skaria Thomas), which contested a seat last time, was not considered.
However, the biggest gainer in the seat-sharing package was of course the Jose K. Mani faction that secured 13 seats. The party was offered the Kuttiyadi segment where it did not even have a clear voter-base. Instead the party had asked either the Perambra or the Thiruvambady seat in Kozhikode district.
Several other constituents, particularly the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), which was inducted into the LDF recently, were unhappy with the seat arrangement. When the party as the State unit of the Janata Dal (United) was in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) camp had contested seven seats in the 2016 polls. “Switching coalition was a losing proposition although we secured three sitting seats. But we are not sure whether these seats are really safe now,” a senior leader said.
The Janata Dal (S), its rival socialist partner, was given four seats, possibly out of loyalty after the party had stayed with the LDF.
Both the LJD and the CPI leadership feel that the perception generated within the LDF that the entry of the Jose K. Mani faction will help the front garner votes of the Christian community in Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam regions was far from reality. Certainly, its entry had salvaged the LDF parties in the three tier local body polls, a CPI leader said.
