Amidst the continuing indecision over the sharing of seats in the district and block panchayats, a meeting of the United Democratic Front Kottayam district unit here on Sunday decided to complete the seat-sharing talks at the panchayat level in a couple of days.
The meeting, attended by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, UDF convener M. M. Hassan also decided to hold bilateral discussions between constituent parties over the seats in the district and block panchayats.
Based on the decision, Senior Congress leaders Oommen Chandy and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan also held discussions with the leaders of the Kerala Congress faction led by P. J Joseph late in the day.
According to sources, the discussions on the district panchayat divisions would begin upon arriving at a general formula on the number of seats to be shared among the constituent parties. At the same time, the talks regarding the block panchayat divisions will be held at the Assembly constituency level. Any dispute that will crop up during these discussions will be settled with the intervention of the UDF district leadership.
The sharing of seats in the Kottayam district panchayat hit a road block after the Joseph group insisted on a status quo with regard to the division of seats to the KC(M) despite the exit of Jose K. Mani- led faction from the UDF.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Chandy said the political situation in the State was highly conducive to the UDF as the public was fed up with wrongdoings of the LDF government.
“The State government is plunged neck-deep in corruption. Besides the Central agencies, even the State Vigilance under the Chief Minister too have registered cases against some of the accused in these corruption cases,” he pointed out.
Mr. Chandy also called upon the rank and file of the UDF to work hard and meet the expectations of the public.
“We have no time to spare. We have to move ahead and to change our works in compliance with COVID-19 induced restrictions,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, UDF convener M.M.Hassan launched an attack on the LDF for inducting the KC (M) faction led by Jose K. Mani in the coalition. “The voters of Kottayam will never forget the bitter treatment of K.M.Mani by the LDF workers in the bar bribery case. All faces that represent corruption including a person who was sentenced by the court are now with the LDF,” he said, adding that the UDF would be urging the public to vote against corruption during the upcoming local body elections.
