A race is on in Kerala between the Congress-led ruling UDF and CPI(M)-headed Opposition lDF to complete the preparation of lists of candidates for the Assembly election at the earliest though close to 70 days are left for the polling date even as the left front has decided to put off its expansion till the completion of the poll process. Polling for the Assembly election in the State is to be held on May 16.
Both the fronts had last weekend decided not to rush through the processes of seat-sharing and candidates’ selection after the Election Commission announced a delayed schedule for the election but both the coalitions now feel that delaying the finalization of lists could cause the loss of the upper hand they claim to have presently on the election scene.
As per the present schedule, the lDF will complete the seat-sharing talks by March 19 and the final list of candidates is expected to be ready by March 20. The Congress’s effort now is to complete the preparation of the UDF list before that. According to sources, the UDF plans to finalize its list by March 16, exactly two months ahead of the election.
“The plan is to go into active campaigning immediately after the finalization of the list,” said a top Congress leader. “The feeling in the party as well as in the UDF is that it will not be in our interest to permit any delay in this. We will start active campaigning highlighting the development track record of the UDF Government once the list is drawn up,” he added.
However, reports on the seat-sharing talks held in the UDF on Thursday indicated that the ruling coalition might not be able to meet the March 16 deadline for finalizing the list as at least two constituent parties expressed dissatisfaction at the refusal by the Congress to honour their demands.
Kerala Congress (M), the third biggest UDF partner which had recently undergone a massive split, wanted to contest more seats than it had contested in the 2011 election but the Congress rejected the demand outright, leading to a temporary collapse in talks between them. The KC(M) had contested 15 seats in the last polls and won nine of them. “If the Congress wants to take over the seats we have been contesting, we have got our options,” was how Johny Nelloor, chairman of the Kerala Congress (Jacob), a minor UDF constituent, responded to the Congress’s insistence on not giving the Angamaly seat to it. No understanding was reached at in the discussions with the Janata Dal (United), another minor ally, also.
At the same time, the situation did not seem as complicated as this in the left front if sources can be trusted. The biggest problem the front is facing at present pertains to the confusion in the CPI(M) over whether both Politbureau member Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan should contest in this election.
The central leadership wants both Vijayan and his arch enemy in the party, Achuthanandan, to fight the election so that divisionism does not affect the prospects of the party and the front in this crucial election. The State secretariat and the State committee of the party are to discuss the issue in detail.
“A decision on the matter will be taken in the leadership meets starting tomorrow (Friday),” said a former CPI(M) State committee member. “However, that is not an issue determining the direction and mood of the seat-sharing talks. The left’s list will be ready in ten days. We don’t worry over whether the UDF finalizes its list before that or not,” he added.
The lDF has decided to put off its much-awaited expansion till the completion of the State election though about half a dozen parties, including the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress launched by those who had quit the KC(M) last week, are awaiting induction. However, the lDF would face the election in full cooperation with these parties, sources said.