5 months ago
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Kerala Democratic Party (KDP) person and Pala MLA Mani C. Kappan met Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) nationalist wide caput P.K. Kunhalikutty astatine his residence astatine Karathodu, adjacent here, connected Wednesday. The 2 leaders held discussions connected the United Democratic Front (UDF)’s prospects and strategies for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Mr. Kappan reportedly conveyed to Mr. Kunhalikutty his unwillingness to springiness up the Pala Assembly spot successful the lawsuit of the Kerala Congress (M), led by Jose K. Mani, quitting the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and rejoining the UDF.
He said helium had nary objection to Mr. Mani’s instrumentality to the UDF, but made it wide that helium would not vacate the Pala spot nether immoderate circumstances. Mr. Kappan’s sojourn assumed value amid wide speculation implicit Mr. Mani’s imaginable instrumentality to the UDF.
However, Mr. Mani said successful Kottayam that helium had nary volition of leaving the LDF to instrumentality to the UDF. The IUML had expressed eagerness to bring backmost into the UDF fold parties that had near it for assorted reasons, and Mr. Mani’s Kerala Congress (M) was foremost among them.
During the half-hour meeting, Mr. Kappan is learnt to person requested the IUML person to see swapping the Elathur spot with Perambra. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the UDF had allotted 2 seats to Mr. Kappan’s KDP — Pala and Elathur. While the enactment won Pala by defeating Mr. Mani by a borderline of 15,378 votes, it mislaid Elathur to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s A.K. Saseendran by 38,502 votes.
The IUML is understood to beryllium keen connected Elathur. Mr. Kappan reportedly sought to transportation Mr. Kunhalikutty that his enactment could technologist a consolidation of Muslim and Christian votes successful Perambra. He argued that an speech of the Elathur and Perambra seats with the IUML would amended the UDF’s winning prospects successful some constituencies.
Mr. Kappan expressed assurance that helium could unafraid different triumph successful Pala contempt the LDF gaining an precocious manus successful the constituency successful the precocious held section assemblage elections. According to Mr. Kappan, his ballot basal successful Pala remains intact.
He is besides learnt to person suggested that if Mr. Mani were to instrumentality to the UDF, a winnable spot specified arsenic Thiruvambady, alternatively than Pala, could beryllium offered to him.
Mr. Kunhalikutty, however, remained non-committal successful his post-meeting enactment with the media. He reiterated that the UDF had not yet begun seat-sharing talks and said the reports doing the rounds were simply rumours.
“Mr. Kappan and I besides discussed those reports. His sojourn was a regular one, and nary agenda-based discussions took place,” Mr. Kunhalikutty said.
However, helium maintained that the UDF would enactment with parties that are ideologically aligned with the front. “There is simply a increasing inclination of much parties expressing involvement successful joining the UDF. This is lone natural, arsenic the UDF is intelligibly gaining an electoral precocious manus successful the State. There is simply a wide cognition that the UDF is acceptable to instrumentality to powerfulness successful Kerala,” Mr. Kunhalikutty said.
