Thiruvananthapuram:With Kerala Congress Jose K Mani faction allying with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) after splitting with the United Democratic Front recently, Pala seat has become a bone of contention within the LDF.
Kerala Congress’s Jose K Mani demanded the sitting Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) seat from which K M Mani had been a legislator for decades together. But NCP leader Mani C Kappan, the incumbent MLA, maintains that he will not let go of the seat from which he has won through a by-election. With these arguments within the LDF, Pala has become a bone of contention.
Mani C Kappan has left for Delhi to meet NCP national president Sharad Pawar and inform his stand on Pala seat. NCP state president T P Peethambharan has also gone along with him. But, NCP Minister with the LDF Government A K Saseendran has no opinion differences. He keeps reiterating that the NCP is with the LDF. Amid all these, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said Mani C Kappan can contest on Congress’s symbol at Pala.
In a major development in the UDF camp, Former Union Minister K V Thomas, who was upset with the Congress State leadership and had been keeping a low profile after being denied a ticket in the last Parliament elections, has been appointed the ‘working president’ of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee by the Congress National Leadership, on Thursday.
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K V Thomas was vexed as he was not allotted the Ernakulam seat in the previous Lok Sabha Elections. There were also rumours that K V Thomas is to contest as an LDF candidate from Ernakulam. With the new position assigned to him, K V Thomas can be expected to be active in State politics.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, reacting to the Opposition allegations that were going rounds in the past few days, dismissed the Opposition claims on backdoor appointments and clarified - with statistics - how the LDF Government has dealt with the PSC appointments and how many temporary posts were regularised on humanitarian grounds. The CPM had decided not to react in the public on the controversies regarding the backdoor appointment allegations and other issues raked up by the Opposition.
The CM responded on the UDF’s allegations himself after other CPM leaders started publicly criticising the protests in front of the Secretariat. Muslim League leader and Manjeshwaram MLA M C Kamaruddin, who was in the prison after being arrested under the fashion jewellery deposit scheme controversy, has been released from the jail on Wednesday.
Even as Kerala awaits the Election notification, the Election Commission of India is in Kerala. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also to reach Kerala to evaluate BJP’s election campaign programmes. Modi is to reach Kerala on February 14. With the PM’s arrival, the election heat is expected to intensify further.
