Kozhikode: With barely three months left from the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, alliance trouble is brewing in Kerala’s Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) as key allies Muslim league and Kerala Congress (Mani) have both raised their demands and have said they want to contest from one more seat.
Kerala has 20 Lok Sabha seats and the Congress usually contests in 16 seats, the IUML in two and the Kerala Congress (Mani) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in one each.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Muslim League MP and party’s national organizing secretary ET Muhammed Basheer said that the party deserves three seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “The IUML leadership will decide on which seat to ask for and the issue will be discussed in the upcoming UDF meet,” he said.
Basheer said that though the party has not raised the seat sharing issue with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, they are confident that the grand old party will take a decision in their favour.
Of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the Congress contested on 15 seats winning 8, while Kerala Congress (M) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) fought on one seat each and emerged winners. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) contested in two and also won them.
JD(U) led by Veerendra Kumar was given one seat in 2014 but he later switched sides and joined CPM-led LDF.
Apart from the Malappuram and Ponnani Lok Sabha seats, IUML may ask for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat too which comes is predominantly a strong League constituency with a large Muslim population.
Meanwhile, Kerala Congress led by KM Mani has already asked for an extra seat apart from Kottayam, which was held by his son Jose.
The Kottayam seat is also lying vacant now as Jose K Mani was elected to Rajya Sabha as part of a patch-up formula in the UDF alliance, last year.
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