Divisions in alliance party put Left Front in a tizzy

By Akhel Mathew

Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram The Kerala Congress (J), which has been seething over what it considered an injustice to the party in the seat-sharing exercise within the Left Democratic Front, exploded a virtual political bomb yesterday.

The party's secretary general Scaria Thomas said the Kerala Congress (J) would field candidates in 21 seats, as against the 6 allotted to it by the LDF.

Shortly thereafter, the party's working chairman P.C. Joseph clarified the party's position. He said it had no intention to field rebels and that anyone who did not abide by the LDF's decision would be expelled from the Front.

Party chairman P.J. Joseph was not immediately available for comment.

The claims and counter-claims about fielding rebel candidates in 15 assembly constituencies fuelled speculation in political circles about the Kerala Congress (J) moving towards a likely split.

It is learnt that it is the faction led by P.C. Thomas from the Indian Federal Democratic Party (IFDP) which had merged into the Kerala Congress (J) that has been most unhappy with the manner in which the seat allocation in the LDF was carried out.

Fewer seats

The seat-sharing exercise had given the Kerala Congress (J) only 6 seats this time against 10 seats in 2001, and the IFDP faction did not get even a single seat when the Kerala Congress (J) decided its candidates for the 6 seats.

Following this, the party had decided to field Georgekutty Agusthy, a former IFDP man and the party's Kottayam district president, in the Kanjirapally assembly constituency.

This was despite the fact that the constituency had an LDF-backed independent in the form of former bureaucrat Alphons Kannanthanam. The move was made with the blessings of P.J. Joseph himself.

Apparently that did not douse the fires raging within the party, which may have led to yesterday's announcement by the party secretary general Scaria Thomas that it would field candidates in 15 more constituencies. Thomas said the move follows poor representation given to the party by the LDF, particularly in the areas north of Kothamangalam.

Hand in hand

Thomas himself was tipped to contest in Thiruvambadi or Sultan Battery.

Party working chairman P.C. Joseph played down the announcements by Scaria Thomas, stating that "Thomas should show more maturity", and that there was no change in the party's stand of going hand in hand with the LDF.

The problems within the Kerala Congress (J) are considered to be symbolic of those in other coalition members of the LDF, many of who are unhappy with a reduced number of seats allotted to them.