The stage is set for the re-entry of the Janata Dal (United) of the Sharad Yadav faction into the Left Democratic Front (LDF) after the party severed its ties with the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) in the State.
A team of JD(U) leaders led by M.P. Veerendrakumar, general secretary Varghese George, and State secretary general Sheikh P. Haris met CPI(M) State unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. The meeting was ahead of an LDF meeting on Friday which would take a final call on the entry of the party into the ruling coalition.
Mr. Haris told The Hindu that the party unit would be with the Sharad Yadav faction at the national level. “The Election Commission of India, which has officially recognised the faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the JD(U), would soon approve a new name — Loktantrik Janata Dal (Democratic Janata Party) — and a new symbol for the Sharad Yadav faction,” he said.
However, he said no formal discussion had taken place on the Rajya Sabha seat relinquished by Mr. Veerendrakumar. ‘‘We are confident that the vacant seat would definitely be offered to the party since Mr. Veerendrakumar had quit the Upper House after the JD(U) national leadership aligned with the BJP,’’ he said, adding that the entry of the party would be smooth and that the party had already given a letter in this regard last week.
However, some leaders are apprehensive that the CPI(M) may not want to part with a sure Rajya Sabha seat. Three Rajya Sabha seats from the State are likely to fall vacant in June. With a comfortable number of legislators, the ruling LDF would win two. But then the CPI would stake claim for the second seat, the party sources said.
