The Hindu : Minor partners in UDF demand LS seats

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Minor partners in UDF demand LS seats

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 3. With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the beleaguered UDF leadership would have to face another headache: demands for seats by smaller constituents, which are hoping to take advantage of the dissidence in the Congress, the leading party in the ruling coalition.

The Kerala Congress(B) and the Kerala Congress(Jacob) today officially demanded one seat each. The former has demanded the Adoor reserved seat and the latter the Muvattupuzha seat. The RSP(B) has already staked its claim for the Kollam seat, while the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS) is planning to wrest either the Alappuzha or Chirayinkeezhu seat.

The KC(B) and the KC(Jacob) have put forward their own rationale for making such a demand. The KC(B) leader and Transport Minister, R. Balakrishna Pillai, said his party had staked its claim for the Adoor seat on the basis of its strong presence in two of the Assembly segments, Kottarakara and Pathanapuram, represented by him and his son, K.B. Ganesh Kumar. The KC(Jacob) chairman, Johnny Nellore, said his party had staked its claim for the Muvattupuzha seat on the basis of the fact that his party had a strong presence in two of the Assembly segments, Piravom and Muvattupuzha. Besides, Muvattupuzha was now an open seat. Even though the seat had been contested by the Kerala Congress(M) for the last several elections, the incumbent MP and Union Minister of State for Law, P.C. Thomas, had quit that party and formed his own outfit, the Indian Federal Democratic Party (IFDP), now a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, he said.

The State secretariat of the two Kerala Congress parties today decided to take up the matter with the UDF leadership. Significantly, Mr. Jacob and Mr. Balakrishna Pillai had earlier formed a coordination committee to increase their bargaining power in the UDF, but as a strategy, the two parties demanded a seat each at separate press conferences.

The Congress MP, Kodikunnil Suresh, represents Adoor seat now. In reply to a question, Mr. Balakrishna Pillai said that Adoor was not a secure seat for the Congress and the party had been winning the seat with his support. . Mr. Nellore said the demand for an additional seat was relevant in the current political context, when the Congress had proposed a national secular coalition. The RSP(B) staked its claim for the Kollam seat the other day on the ground that it had a strong base in that constituency. The RSP has been traditionally contesting the seat in whichever coalition it has been part of, the party general secretary, A.V. Thamarakshan, had said.

The JSS apparently does not want to fall out in the race for the seats and it is expected to officially place its demand.

The UDF leadership is going to face the real headache when the traditional rivalry between some of the constituents comes out to the open. With the Congress a divided house, it is possible that some of the coalition partners would take sides in the factional feud, if they have not already done so.

Mr. Nellore indicated that his party would not mind teaming up with Mr. Balakrishna Pillai's party at a later date to gain leverage when the actual bargaining begins. Another interesting aspect of the current bout of lobbying is that the possibilities of the UDF liaison committee meeting in the near future are rather remote and are connected to the resolution of the crisis in the Congress. It last met shortly before the Ernakulam byelection in September and no one is ready to make a guess when it would meet next.

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