The RSP’s departure from Kerala’s lDF seems to have become an eye-opener for front leader CPI(M). The Marxists have started showing readiness to listen to the demands of the minor allies for seats in the lok Sabha polls.
The CPI(M) will hold bilateral talks with all lDF constituents in this regard on Tuesday and the candidates’ list of the front will be finalised by Wednesday.
The RSP, an lDF partner for the past three-and-a-half decades, had on Saturday quit the front in protest against the CPI(M)’s refusal to honour its demand for a seat. On Sunday, the RSP decided to join the Congress-led ruling UDF. It will also support the UPA in the Centre though despite the fact that it is holding an anti-Congress policy in the national level.
The strongest demand for seat in the lok Sabha election has come from the Janata Dal (S). Convinced that the CPI(M) cannot afford to antagonise another ally after the departure of the RSP, the Janata Dal (S) threatened to field own candidates in four constituencies if one seat is not given to it. The JD(S) has four MlAs in the State.
lDF sources said that the CPI(M) had listened to the demand quietly during the front’s meeting on Monday. According to sources, a meeting of the “available” CPI(M) State secretariat on Monday morning had decided not to antagonise the JD(S) which wanted to get Wayanad or Vadakara seat where that party claims to have strong presence.
“All the constituents have reiterated their commitment to go ahead in total unity,” said senior CPI leader KE Ismail after the lDF meeting in Thiruvananthapuram. To a question on the JD(S) demand for seat, Ismail said a final decision on all matters would come by Wednesday. He also indicated that there would be efforts to broad-base the lDF.
Almost all lDF constituents raised demand for seats at Monday’s front meeting. Traditionally, the CPI(M) contests 16 of the total 20 lok Sabha seats in Kerala while the remaining four are given to the CPI, though the front had seven constituents till Saturday. In the 140-member State Assembly, the CPI(M) has 46 members and the CPI has 13.
The NCP, a minor constituent, has also staked claim for one seat. According to NCP’s State president TP Peethambaran, the left Democratic Front (lDF) would soon become a left Front (lDF) if it continued to humiliate the smaller partners. “The two communist parties should review their position,” he said. The NCP has two members in the State Assembly.
Another lDF constituent that has raised demand for a lok Sabha seat is the Kerala Congress faction led by former Union minister PC Thomas. This party wants to field its candidate in the Idukki seat. According to Thomas, his party deserves this seat as it was the Kerala Congress (before it split) which had contested it in 2009.
At the same time, the lDF meeting on Monday aired a general feeling that the RSP had betrayed the front by leaving it. Opposition leader in the State Assembly VS Achuthanandan complained that the RSP did not respond to his call for talks, an opinion shared by State CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
lDF convener Vaikom Viswan said that the developments that took place immediately after the RSP’s announcement of its departure from the front showed that it had done so on the basis of an understanding it had reached earlier with the Congress that it would join the Congress-led UDF. The State Congress executive on Monday approved the UDF decision to welcome the RSP.
Meanwhile, the Indian national league (INl), a supporter of the lDF, has decided to end the cooperation following the CPI(M)’s refusal to admit it as a partner into the front. INl sources said that a formal decision in this regard would be taken on Tuesday. The party might also decide to field own candidates in the Kozhikode and Kasaragod constituencies, they said.