New Delhi: Kerala Congress (M) reaffirms ties with LDF after key meet
The Kerala Congress (M) leadership on Friday reiterated that the party would continue to be a part of the CPI(M)-led LDF, ruling out all possibilities of crossing over to the Congress-led UDF ahead of the Assembly elections.
KC(M) chairman and Rajya Sabha MP Jose K Mani made the announcement at a press briefing in Kottayam after the conclusion of the party’s top steering committee meeting.
“When KC(M) was pushed out of the UDF (in 2020), LDF welcomed us with open arms. It was CM Pinarayi Vijayan who gave us attention. (Changing coalitions) was always a closed chapter. They were fuelled by speculations from outside. We have not changed our stand. We are not a party who changes its stand every five years,” Jose told reporters.
In the last two weeks, there were widespread speculations that a section of the KC(M) leadership is holding unofficial backchannel talks with the Congress to initiate its return to the UDF. The KC(M), which joined the LDF in 2020, had left the UDF following the demise of Jose’s father and then party chairman KM Mani and a long feud with the PJ Joseph-led faction of the Kerala Congress. While some reports claimed that Jose personally wanted to return to the UDF, a majority of the party’s five MLAs preferred to stick with the LDF. It was claimed that if Jose decided to take his party to the UDF against the MLAs’ wishes, it would lead to a split in the party.
Jose, whose party mainly commands influence among Catholics and farmers in central Kerala, underlined that he would demand more Assembly seats to contest within the LDF this time. In 2021, the KC(M) fought 12 seats and won five.
“This time, we are hoping to contest one or two more seats compared to last time. We will hold discussions within the LDF and take appropriate decisions,” he added.
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