THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When rumours are rife about early general elections UDF constituent JD(U) has started putting pressure on the coalition. If JDU switches to LDF, it will mean more trouble for UDF as Kerala Congress (Mani) has already ditched it. Following CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s invite on Wednesday, party vice-president Charupara Ravi and general secretary Sheikh P. Harris expressed their concern over the repeated defeats of their party leaders in elections.
They did not outrightly deny the CPM leaders’ invitation to the LDF fold but was forthright saying there are issues. After its wipeout in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2016 Assembly elections, it was not happy in the UDF. Despite the KPCC appointing a sub-committees to probe reasons behind its defeat in Palakkad in 2014, effective action was not taken against those responsible. “When N. Sakthan had contested the 2006 Assembly elections from Nemom, he had polled more than 60,000 votes. But fast forward to 2016, JD(U)’s V. Surendran Pillai was pushed to a third with just 13,860 votes, ensuring the BJP win,” said a top leader.
LDF won even in those constituencies where the Congress and the JD(U) had influence. Mr Harris told reporters that the move to switch sides was unavoidable as UDF failed to address their grievances. The party will join LDF before the next parliamentary elections. But Varughese George, national general secretary, said so far no discussions had taken place with the left. “Our leaders are not happy with the turn of events ever since the poll debacle. UDF leaders have started damage control measures,” he told DC. Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC president M. M. Hassan is taking the initiatives to pacify JD(U) leaders. They expressed confidence that it will not ditch them.
