Smaller UDF allies squirm as Congress plays tough

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even though KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran has come out with a strong diktat to offset the likely rebel problem in the party in the local body elections, a prominent UDF leader has said that it will dog not just the Congress but its allies as well.

Sudheeran has been warning that if a Congress candidate is deliberately defeated or if rebel candidates remain in the fray, Congress leader(s) linked to such a move would face stringent action.

Contrary to what Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had claimed after the UDF meeting on Wednesday that seat allocation would be finalised by October 9, it has not been smooth.

The majority of the allies including the KC(J), RSP, SJ(D) and CMP have been unhappy with what they term as the Congress’ unilateral approach.

A prominent UDF leader told DC under on the condition of anonymity that the Congress is at its “height of arrogance”.

“The KPCC leadership knows that none of the smaller allies is going to ditch the front at this juncture when Assembly elections are due in a few months. Though the CM, Sudheeran and home minister Ramesh Chennithala have promised that they would be available in the state capital during October 12-14, none of us has got much hope as they are going to feign ignorance of what the DCC-level leaders are expected to do,” said a leader of a UDF constituent.

The KC(J) has demanded 150 local body seats across the state and Congress has offered them only a handful. In Ernakulam district, the KC(J) has asked for Uday-amperoor and Piravom seats, but the Congress has agreed to give only one.

If during the 2005 local body elections, the KC(J) contested 300 seats, they were not given anything in 2010 as the party had offered support to K. Karunakaran’s then DIC (K).