Kozhikode: Kerala Congress (B), a fringe political party led by veteran Balakrishna Pillai, has split.
A section of the party with the backing of 10 district presidents has decided to join the United Democratic Front (UDF).
The party is primarily driven by Pillai and his son K B Ganesh Kumar, the Pathanapuram MLA. It is an offshoot of the Kerala Congress and even owes its existence to the duo and their supporters are confined to Pathanapuram and Kottarakkara legislative assembly constituencies in Kerala's southern Kollam district.
The party came into existence in 1977 after the first major split in the Kerala Congress.
Ganesh Kumar has been winning consistently since the 2001 assembly election, but Pillai's political decline started with his loss in the 2006 polls.
The party was with the UDF for long, but it joined the LDF in 2015.
Pillai, 85, has not been active politically owing to physical infirmities.
Several party functionaries alleged Ganesh Kumar and his team have hijacked the party in Pillai's absence.
He favours only his trusted aides, they claimed.
Differences over the recent appointment of a party functionary as a member of the Public Service Commission reportedly culminated in the split.
The party leaders who have decided to join hands with the UDF are 10 district chiefs, state general secretary and secretary.
They had held talks with the UDF leadership.
