Kerala NCP firm on not giving its assembly seats to any other LDF partner

The Kerala unit of the NationalistCongress Party on Thursday asserted there was no questionof parting with the prestigious Pala seat held by it, amid areported move by front to allot the constituency to anotherpartner in the assembly elections expected in April-May.

After meeting party chief Sharad Pawar in Mumbai, NCPstate president T P Peethambaran Master said the party wouldfield candidates in all four seats which were allotted to itby the LDF in the previous assembly polls.

Master and some other leaders of the party met Pawar amidgrowing discontent within the state NCP over the reported moveby the CPI(M)-led front to allot the Pala seat to newlyinducted Kerala Congress (M).

Emerging from the meeting, Master said Pawar has directedthe party's Kerala state unit not to surrender its sittingseats to any other coalition partners.

''Pawar-ji said NCP's sitting seats will not be given toany other partners. There is no question of the party givingany of its sitting seats to any other coalition partners,'' hetold reporters.

Although the CPI(M) has not made any statement on theseat sharing formula so far, a section of NCP leaderhipapprehends that the LDF will field KC(M) leader Jose K Manifrom the Pala Assembly seat, which had been represented by hislate father and Kerala Congress veteran K M Mani for more thanfive decades.

NCP leader Kappan, fielded by LDF, had won the Pala seatin the by-poll held in September 2019 defeating nearest rivalJose Tom Pulikunnel of KC(M) of the United Democratic Front(UDF) by a margin of 2,943 votes.

The election was necessitated following the demise ofMani, a former minister.

''I won the Pala Assembly seat for LDF after 53 long years.

Giving that seat to any other partner is not justice. Pawar-jihas agreed to our views,'' Kappan said.

The KC(M), which joined LDF a few months ago aftersevering its decades long ties with the Congress-led UDF, hasnot made any claim publicly for the seat so far.

Meanwhile, leadership of the Congress-led UDF, which isclosely watching the developments in LDF, indicated it wouldwelcome NCP in its fold if it ends its association with theruling front.

''We have not conducted any discussion on the matter sofar. Let them (NCP) announce their decision first. At presentit is a hypothetical question,'' UDF convener M M Hassan toldPTI when contacted.

The senior Congress leader, however, said, ''if any LDFpartner wants to join the UDF fold after ending theirassociation with the CPI(M)-led front, we will not rejectthem''.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)