Thiruvananthapuram: The differences within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) over inducting the Jose K Mani faction of the Kerala Congress (M) have started coming out in the open. The CPM seems eager to induct it even as  CPI, the second-largest party in the front, has urged caution.

The CPM has indicated that it will welcome the faction, but the CPI alerted the induction should not harm the chances of the LDF continuing in power after the next Assembly elections in the summer of 2021.

The faction was suspended by the United Democratic Front (UDF) on Monday for not vacating the Kottayam district panchayat presidency as per a seat-sharing agreement with the Joseph faction.

As the CPM state secretariat prepares to discuss inducting the Jose faction into the LDF, the CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said the party was not in favour of any association with the group.

The CPM, however, has indicated that it is ready to make the Jose group an ally. “The Kerala Congress is one of the parties in the UDF that has mass influence,” its state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan wrote in the party mouthpiece 'Deshabhimani'. "The party's exit will hasten the fall of the UDF," he said.

The Left front will discuss the matter, said LDF convener and CPI leader A Vijayaraghavan. Asked if the bar bribery case that K M Mani had faced would not be a problem for the LDF, he said, “Not now.”

He evaded questions on the CPI’s disagreement over inducting the Jose faction.

It is learnt that the Jose faction has indicated to the CPM that it is willing to join the LDF. However, the CPM is also wary of provoking the CPI with any hasty decision. 

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan may make the party’s stance clear after its state secretariat meeting on Friday.

Speculations abound on Jose's LDF entry

Thiruvananthapuram: Both the CPM and the Jose faction of the Kerala Congress (M) have been denying that they have held talks for an alliance, but speculations abound on what is likely to happen.

Meanwhile, the representatives of the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress, which is headed by Kerala Congress veteran Scaria Thomas, met CPM leaders at the AKG Centre. There are rumours that the party, which was formed after a split with the Kerala Congress and maintains good relations with the Jose faction, could play a key role in the talks over the alliance.

If the Jose faction is inducted, then the Left front could face a problem over the Pala Assembly seat, currently held by NCP’s Mani C Kappan. The Left leaders suggest that if Kappan is reluctant to vacate the seat, then he and the NCP could be promised a Rajya Sabha seat whenever Jose K Mani resigns from the Upper house of Parliament to solve the problem.

No talks with LDF: Jose K Mani

Pala: The Kerala Congress M (Jose faction) has not held any discussions with the LDF, its chairman Jose K Mani said

The party will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time, he said. The faction will not take any political decisions now, the focus is only on strengthening the organisation, he said.

The Kerala Congress has a strong base and good influence among people, he said. “We know our strength. We have passed many tests. Others also know the party’s strength,” he said.

Jose said the schemes that made the UDF popular among the people were implemented by K M mani. He said the UDF had heaped great injustice on the faction.

Jose will lose: Joseph

Jose's rival PJ Joseph, MLA, who heads the rival faction said many members from the former's camp will switch over to his side.

Jose K Mani has to decide if he has to join the Left front or not. He left the UDF with an ulterior motive, Joseph said. No matter how many seats the LDF gives them, they will not be able to win, he predicted.

He also noted that Jose plans to bring in a no-confidence motion in the Kottayam District Panchayat. 

The no-trust motion will be moved without much delay, he said.

UDF had recently decided to oust the Jose K Mani faction over the dispute on the presidency of Kottayam district panchayat. 

Meanwhile, Thankachan Valummel, a member of the state committee of the Jose faction and the Idukki district president of the Kerala Congress (Jose) farmers’ union, has switched sides and joined the Joseph faction.

Jose faction holds sway in Kottayam: CPM leader 

Kottayam: With the recent ejection of Kerala Congress (Mani) faction from the United Democratic Front (UDF), political equations in the state are set for a change in the run-up to the local body elections and those for the legislative assembly less than a year later. Amid reports that the Jose K Mani-led faction may find refuge in the CPM-led rival Left Democratic Front (LDF), the left party's Kottayam district chief have endorsed the former as a significant force in his territory.

CPM district secretary V N Vasavan claimed that the Jose's Kerala Congress (M) faction was the strongest party in Kottayam after his own.

The Left leader made the statements even as the CPM-led LDF seems to be warming up to the Jose K Mani faction of the Kerala Congress (M). The opposition UDF had recently decided to keep the Jose faction out of the coalition for now.

"The ultimate objective of the Congress is the destruction of the Kerala Congress. They are doing just that," Vasavan, an ex-MLA, noted. 

However, Vasavan further said that any alliance talks to take the Jose faction in the LDF fold are to be held at the state-level. And that he did not have anything more to say than what was already stated by the party’s state secretary in this regard.

Dismissing the CPM’s claims, DCC president Joshy Philip has claimed that the largest political party in the district was Congress. "The CPM is making tall claims without any basis. As the CPM has alienated itself from the people in the district, it is trying to make the most of the schism in the Kerala Congress," he added.

To buttress his point, Philip said Congress is at the helm in most of the local bodies in the district. 

Of the 6 municipalities in Kottayam, Congress was at the helm in three, he noted.