KDP leader Mani C. Kappan meets Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, rules out giving up Pala Assembly seat

Kerala Democratic Party (KDP) leader and Pala MLA Mani C. Kappan met Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty at his residence at Karathodu, near here, on Wednesday. The two leaders held discussions on the United Democratic Front (UDF)’s prospects and strategies for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Mr. Kappan reportedly conveyed to Mr. Kunhalikutty his unwillingness to give up the Pala Assembly seat in the event of the Kerala Congress (M), led by Jose K. Mani, quitting the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and rejoining the UDF.

He said he had no objection to Mr. Mani’s return to the UDF, but made it clear that he would not vacate the Pala seat under any circumstances. Mr. Kappan’s visit assumed significance amid widespread speculation over Mr. Mani’s possible return to the UDF.

However, Mr. Mani said in Kottayam that he had no intention of leaving the LDF to return to the UDF. The IUML had expressed eagerness to bring back into the UDF fold parties that had left it for various reasons, and Mr. Mani’s Kerala Congress (M) was foremost among them.

During the half-hour meeting, Mr. Kappan is learnt to have requested the IUML leader to consider swapping the Elathur seat with Perambra. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the UDF had allotted two seats to Mr. Kappan’s KDP — Pala and Elathur. While the party won Pala by defeating Mr. Mani by a margin of 15,378 votes, it lost Elathur to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s A.K. Saseendran by 38,502 votes.

The IUML is understood to be keen on Elathur. Mr. Kappan reportedly sought to persuade Mr. Kunhalikutty that his party could engineer a consolidation of Muslim and Christian votes in Perambra. He argued that an exchange of the Elathur and Perambra seats with the IUML would improve the UDF’s winning prospects in both constituencies.

Mr. Kappan expressed confidence that he could secure another victory in Pala despite the LDF gaining an upper hand in the constituency in the recently held local body elections. According to Mr. Kappan, his vote base in Pala remains intact.

He is also learnt to have suggested that if Mr. Mani were to return to the UDF, a winnable seat such as Thiruvambady, rather than Pala, could be offered to him.

Mr. Kunhalikutty, however, remained non-committal in his post-meeting interaction with the media. He reiterated that the UDF had not yet begun seat-sharing talks and said the reports doing the rounds were merely rumours.

“Mr. Kappan and I also discussed those reports. His visit was a routine one, and no agenda-based discussions took place,” Mr. Kunhalikutty said.

However, he maintained that the UDF would work with parties that are ideologically aligned with the front. “There is a growing trend of more parties expressing interest in joining the UDF. This is only natural, as the UDF is clearly gaining an electoral upper hand in the State. There is a widespread perception that the UDF is set to return to power in Kerala,” Mr. Kunhalikutty said.