Kerala - Kottayam   

KC factions to fight it out for seats

George Jacob

Crucial State committee meeting of the LDF today

KOTTAYAM: With the crucial session of the LDF State Committee scheduled for Tuesday, the three Kerala Congress factions in the Left Front are gearing up to fight it out to ensure their legitimate share of seats in the coming Assembly polls.

The three factions entered the coalition as a single unit, the Kerala Congress had suffered the first split when a member from Poonjar, P.C. George, fell out with his leader P.J. Joseph more than two years ago.

The new faction Kerala Congress (Secular) again split up when Mr. George ousted his chairman Eapen Varghese who now runs his own outfit claiming himself to be the leader of the `true' Kerala Congress (Secular).

The united party had fielded 10 candidates last time, of which only two were returned to the House.

While the split halved the number of MLAs, the party led by Mr. Joseph countered the setback by engineering a minor coup in the form of assimilation of the Indian Federal Democratic party (IFDP) led by P.C. Thomas, MP.

The party fared well in the last Panchayati Raj elections In addition the party has two Lok Sabha members and more than 500 elected members in the Panchayati Raj bodies, including the district panchayat president of Idukki district.

The core of the argument is that it is the third largest party in the coalition and had overcome the setback on account of split and proved it during the last Panchayati Raj elections.

According to sources close to the leadership, the party will seek more seats this time. While it is not ready to divulge the exact number of seats, one of the seats will be in Idukki district and others in Kottayam. The party may demand Kanjirappally constituency for itself on the basis of the performance of Mr. Thomas during the last Parliament elections.

It will also seek Poonjar in its account. However, it is unlikely that the CPI(M) will concede the demands.

George to seek four seats

Sources close to KC(Secular) leader Mr. George said the party would demand four seats. One, of course is Mr. George's sitting seat, Poonjar.

The party has two `sitting seats,' the other being Kalloopara constituency. The election of Joseph M. Puthussery against KC (Secular) leader T.S. John was set aside by the Kerala High Court and he has now secured a stay.

Mr. John should also be considered a sitting MLA, it argued. The other two seats are in Pathanamthitta (either Thiruvalla or Pathanamthitta) and another in Ernakulam (Kothamangalam/ Angamali/ Aluva) districts. The faction led by Eapen Varghese may not be a serious contender during the seat sharing exercise, as he has no members in the House.

Despite the arguments, it is unlikely that the factions will secure more seats this time.

The factions may end up seeking more seats with winning chances, even if they enter the fray with a reduced contingent.

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KC factions to fight it out for seats

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