With just a week left for filing the nominations for local body elections, all three major coalitions in Pathanamthitta have inched closer to finalising their respective seat-sharing deals.
Faced with the prospects of close three-way contests, the Left Democratic Front (LDF), United Democratic Front (UDF), and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are now rushing through discussions with formal announcements expected in the next couple of days. While discussions continue at the leadership level, party workers have already swung into campaign mode at the grass-roots.
According to Victor Thomas, chairman of the UDF district committee, the seat-sharing arrangement is almost final though there are certain hitches in a few seats at the district and block panchayat levels.
While the Kerala Congress(M) led by P.J. Joseph is keen on maintaining its share of 156 seats where the party contested in 2015, the Congress appears unwilling to give in considering the exit of the Jose K. Mani faction.
“Differences persist in some areas but these will be sorted out in the final round of discussion on Thursday evening. Candidates will start filing nominations from November 16,” Mr. Thomas said.
Of the 16 seats in the district panchayat, the Congress may contest from 14 seats while the KC(M) will get two seats. Other constituents, the IUML and the RSP, are most likely to return empty-handed.
The LDF has completed seat-sharing discussions in all 53 panchayats, four municipalities, and eight block panchayats. In the district panchayat, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will contest from ten divisions and the Communist Party of India three. The KC(M) led by Jose K. Mani is likely to be given two seats while the remaining one seat will go to the Janata Dal.
“The final announcement regarding the district panchayat is expected in the next couple of days even as the LDF machinery has been activated at the grass-roots level. The lone remaining task is the identification of eligible candidates to some seats,” said K. Ananthagopan, CPI(M) State committee member.
Pact sealed in NDA
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA had sealed seat-sharing agreements at all levels and even announced majority of its candidates. The coalition had already finalised candidates in 636 of the 920 wards and 90 of the 106 block decisions.
The announcement on the district panchayat, where the BJP is set to contest from 12 divisions, is expected by Friday, said Asokan Kulanada, BJP district unit president.
