KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress (M) working chairman P.J. Joseph, who has been harping on two Lok Sabha seats, may be given the Kottayam seat to avoid a split in the party.
With the Congress rejecting the KC(M) demand, Mr Joseph has queered the pitch and said that he will contest from Kottayam. He told this newspaper that the party will accept his claim after discussions and that it will not split.
The Congress has made it clear that the Rajya Sabha seat given to the KC(M) should be considered as the second seat.
The seat given to Mr Jose K. Mani was from the Congress share, he said.
"I have already staked my claim to the Kottayam seat. The differences in the party will be sorted out through discussions,”he said.
Sources said the KC(M) will give in to his demand, especially as a section of the Church feels that the tensions in the party should be defused.
Even before the demand was taken up in the party, Mr Joseph had told this paper on February 15 that he wanted to contest the general elections. “When the Rajya Sabha seat was given to Mr Jose K. Mani, I have a claim to Kottayam,” he said.
