Seat-sharing talks in UDF to generate heat with Cong. eyeing to claim seats in Kottayam

With momentum building ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, seat sharing within the United Democratic Front (UDF) is likely to turn increasingly contentious, with the Congress, the coalition’s lead partner, looking to step up efforts to wrest at least a couple of seats from the Kerala Congress in Kottayam.

The Congress unit in Kottayam has already raised, although informally, the demands to take over a few seats held by the Kerala Congress faction led by P.J. Joseph, citing better victory prospects. The Joseph group, however, remains firm and is instead weighing a counter demand for more seats, pointing to its performance in the recent local body elections.

According to party sources, the Congress leadership is pushing to claim the Changanassery and Ettumanur constituencies from the regional party. The move is driven by interest from senior Congress leaders keen to enter the fray from these seats. A handful of leaders, including Joseph Vazhakkan and K.C. Joseph, have been proposed for the Changanassery seat, while District Congress Committee president Nattakam Suresh is said to be keen on contesting from Ettumanur.

“Of the 10 seats contested by the Joseph group in the last Assembly election, it managed to win only two. In most of these constituencies, the Congress stands a stronger chance and we demand a reallocation on that basis,” said a senior Congress leader.

The Kerala Congress, however, is showing no signs of backing down. “The Congress should not assume it can lay claim to any seat held by the Kerala Congress. We will not give up even a single seat. Our performance in the recent local body polls has proved our mettle,” asserted a leader of the Joseph faction.

The regional party is expected to adopt the same hard line it took during the local body elections, when it resisted Congress attempts to corner certain district panchayat divisions. “The Congress had raised the same winnability argument during the local body polls, yet we won contested divisions such as Kanjirappally and Kangazha. We are confident of repeating that performance in the Assembly election as well,” the leader added.

Although the United Democratic Front had decided at its last meeting to complete bilateral seat-sharing talks before January 15, discussions are yet to begin. Talks are now expected only after the Congress’ Wayanad meeting. With the Assembly session likely to begin on January 20, negotiations are expected to shift to Thiruvananthapuram, setting the stage for a high stakes showdown within the alliance.