Three Parties Inducted into Congress-led UDF Alliance in Kerala Ahead of Assembly Polls

Thiruvananthapuram: In a bid to strengthen the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) ahead of next year’s Kerala Assembly elections, the leadership on Monday welcomed three political parties into the alliance — the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Janadhipathya Rashtriya Party (JRP), and Vaikunda Swamy Dharma Pracharana Sabha (VSDPS).

Briefing the media after the coordination committee meeting in Kochi, UDF Chairman and Opposition Leader V. D. Satheeshan said that none of the parties had made any demands to join the front. “They approached us with a request. We discussed it with other allies during the meeting and decided to induct them into the alliance,” he explained.

The AITC’s Kerala unit, headed by former MLA P. V. Anvar, had sought entry months ago, but the leadership initially declined, leading him to contest the Nilambur bypoll. In the June bypoll, he secured 19,760 votes.

Recently, the UDF toppled the LDF in Nilambur municipality, winning 26 of 36 wards, while the LDF, in power since 2020, was reduced to just six seats. Candidates backed by Anvar fared poorly, failing to cross double digits, prompting the realisation that survival alone would be tough and leading them to join the UDF.

The Janadhipathya Rashtriya Party (JRP), led by tribal leader C.K. Janu, and the Vaikunda Swamy Dharma Pracharana Sabha (VSDPS), led by Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan, were previously part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Kerala.

Satheeshan said the entry of these parties would strengthen the UDF ahead of the polls. “We are not increasing the number of political parties in our front, but reaching out to more social and political groups. Several people who were close to the LDF and were Left sympathisers have approached us and offered to work with our front. They believe the CPM has abandoned Left ideology and is now functioning as a far-right organisation,” he said.

The opposition leader added that UDF leaders have been instructed not to form alliances with the LDF or BJP when creating governing councils in local bodies.