A couple of senior United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders have approached the Jose K. Mani faction of the Kerala Congress (M) with an intention to bring the party back to its fold, it is understood.
Meanwhile, the faction has postponed a meeting of its steering committee on Wednesday citing COVID-19-related restrictions.
Addressing mediapersons in Pala, Mr. Mani said his party would continue as an ally of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre.
At the same time, he refrained from commenting specifically on a suggestion by CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran that his faction should explore its chances with the LDF after relinquishing the MP and MLA seats that it had won on the UDF ticket.
“We have taken a political decision to stand as an independent party post the exclusion.
At the same time, we are still part of the UPA, which is based on the national situation. We took this same stance when we had stayed out of the UDF in 2016 as well,” Jose said.
Meanwhile, the decision to keep the Mani group out of the coalition for the time being seems to have triggered a tussle between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions of the Congress.
While the ‘A’ group appears keen on bringing the Mani group back to the coalition, the ‘I’ group is learned to be exploring a few other options including drafting P.C.George, MLA, to its side.
