CPM Yields To CPI; Second Place In Kottayam Was Not Left

CPM yields to CPI; Second place in Kottayam was not left to anyone else; The Jose faction has only nine seats.

The controversy erupted in Kottayam when Jose’s party joined the Left Front. The division of seats was mainly between the district panchayat and the Pala municipality.

Kottayam: In the Kerala Congress platform, the CPM finally gave in to the CPI.

The allocation of seats to the Kottayam District Panchayat was completed by the CPM with more losses after days of uncertainty.

At present, the seats in the Left Front are CPM-9, Kerala Congress Jose Paksham-9, and CPI-4.

With the expansion of the CPM, Jose faction, and the CPI, the constituent parties like the Janata Dal and the NCP lost their seats.

In 2015, the CPM contested 13 seats and the CPI five. The Janata Dal and the NCP contested two seats each.

The NCP is the party with the most MLAs in the district. NCP district president Saju Philip had demanded a seat. But the CPM has promised to give more seats to other parties in village-block panchayats.

In 2015, the Jose faction, which contested 11 seats in the UDF, lost two seats to the LDF. Jose’s party has been pushing for 12 seats since the beginning of the seat-sharing talks.

The CPM ceded four seats to the Jose faction, which contested last time. The CPI, which contested in five seats last time, was asked to give up two seats but they did not give up.

The CPI gave up only one seat. With this, the CPM, which had initially decided to contest in 11 seats, sacrificed itself by giving more seats to the Jose faction.

But the CPM was not ready to lose the upper hand in the front. The CPI tried to take one more seat but they did not compromise.

CPM district secretary VN Vasavan announced the decision at a meeting of LDF leaders yesterday.

PKV’s trench or Kanam’s chain?

Although the uncertainty over the allocation of seats has changed, the next issue is whether there will be a new dispute over the number of seats to be vacated.

The CPI (M) decided to leave the Wakathanam division first.

But the Jose faction wants the CPI to contest the Kidanguru or Kangala. In 2015, Jose won both seats.

Kidangoor is the birthplace of former Chief Minister PK Vasudevan Nair. Kangala is the birthplace of state secretary Kanam Rajendran.

Ajith Muthiramala Joseph, who won here last time, is in the category. Ajith’s position as district panchayat president and the intolerance of some of its leaders is one of the main reasons for the split in the Kerala Congress.

In any case, in the coming days, the decision on which seat to give up will be taken in bilateral talks between the Jose faction and the CPI.

The controversy erupted in Kottayam when Jose’s party joined the Left Front. The division of seats was mainly in the district panchayat and Pala municipality.

Jose, who wanted 12 seats in the district panchayat, demanded 17 seats in the Pala municipality. With this, the CPM demanded that the CPI give up more seats.

But the CPI was not ready to accept the CPM formula. There are indications that the CPI will prove its strength by contesting 10 seats in Pala.