Kasaragod: The Indian Union Muslim League will make a concerted pitch for a third ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Kerala, said the party's General Secretary P M A Salam.
No constituent party of the United Democratic Front (UDF) disputes the fact that the Muslim League deserves the third ticket, he told reporters in Kasaragod on Saturday.
Of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the Congress -- the biggest constituent of the UDF -- usually contests in 16 seats, the IUML in Malappuram and Ponnani constituencies, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) in Kollam, and the Kerala Congress (Mani) in Kottayam.
But the Kerala Congress (M) has jumped ship to the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), so one additional seat would be up for grabs in the UDF in the 2024 election.
Salam said the Muslim League leaders do discuss the party's claim for the third seat but the party's state committee has not yet taken up the matter formally for discussion, said Salam. The party would discuss and inform the UDF leadership on the third seat, he said.
However, Salam expressed confidence that the UDF would win 20 of 20 seats in Kerala in the 2023 election, one better than the 2018 election. Last time the LDF won only in the Alappuzha seat.
'JD(S) is a link between the BJP and CPM'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have several links between them, alleged IUML general secretary P M A Salam. One of the links will be the Janata Dal (Secular) which hitched its wagon with the BJP in Karnataka, he said.
He made the allegation despite a strongly worded denial from Pinarayi Vijayan that he endorsed the JD(S)-BJP alliance in Karnataka "to save the party" and backtracking by JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda, who made the controversial statements.
Salam said the JD(S) disbanded its state committee in Karnataka and made Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy the new president because the incumbent C M Ibrahim opposed the alliance. But Kerala's JD(S) leaders, who are in alliance with the LDF, were not sacked though they also opposed the alliance with the BJP. That proved the CPM-led LDF's understanding with the BJP, Salam alleged.
When asked whether the disagreement with Sunni scholars' organisation Samastha Kerala has been resolved, Salam wrapped up the interaction by saying: as-salamu alaykum.
