KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress (M) working chairman P.J. Joseph has stuck to his demand for two Lok Sabha seats for the party with the implicit idea that one of them should go to his group. This was implied when the Rajya Sabha seat was given to Mr Jose K. Mani, he told this paper. The party has not so far discussed who will contest the Kottayam seat, he said and added that the current names being circulated were just speculations.
The candidates will be discussed only after talks with the Congress at the UDF meeting on February 18, he said. He recalled that the Kerala Congress had even three MPs in the 1970s-- R. Balakrishna Pillai, Varkey George and M.M. Joseph. Hence, two seats is not a big deal for the party, he said.
"The number of seats was reduced to one when the party split and joined the rival fronts. When the two groups are united, we have a natural claim for two seats," he said.
Mr Joseph had previously expressed his displeasure over the Kerala Yathra being undertaken by Mr Jose K. Mani MP without discussions in the party. He even said that the party didn't get its due after its merger with the KC (M).
Any discussion on the Congress refusal to grant two seats to the KC(M) would be premature, he said. A clash with the Mani faction is inevitable if the party is allotted only the Kottayam seat.
Mr Joseph’s reaction comes even as the names of leaders like Stephen George, Thomas Chazhikadan and Prince Lukose are being mentioned as probable candidates. His close aide and Kaduthuruthy MLA Mons Joseph had previously raised the claim of the Joseph group for a Parliament seat.
