As the window for filing of nominations to the local body polls closed on Thursday, an extra-cautious approach to keep a check on rebels and friendly fights resulted in a last-day rush for the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to announce their list of candidates to the Kottayam district panchayat.
The National Development Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, however, did not have much of a problem in finalising their candidate list with most of them filing their nominations well ahead of the deadline.
While the confusion over the sharing of seats following the vertical split of the Kerala Congress (M) [KC(M)] caused much of the delay for the UDF and the LDF, candidates contesting from the unchallenged seats had already completed their first round of electioneering. Barring a handful of seats in certain local bodies, including the Pala municipality, the political fronts could complete the preparation of final candidate list in the municipalities, block panchayat divisions, and grama panchayat wards without major hiccups.
The UDF, which had taken an early advantage by sealing a seat-sharing agreement between the Congress and the KC(M) faction led by P.J. Joseph, struggled when it came to the fielding of candidates. Though the Congress had made a desperate attempt to take back the Vaikom division from the KC(M) citing group equations, it did not materialise.
Discontent brews
The disputes were settled later following talks led by All India Congress Committee general secretary Oommen Chandy. There is, however, still discontent among the lower ranks, especially over the ‘undue importance’ to the Joseph group.
Contrary to practice, seat-sharing talks in the LDF too faced an inordinate delay following its expansion with the inclusion of the KC(M) faction led by Jose K. Mani. Though the LDF leadership agreed for a seat-sharing pact with Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the KC(M) sharing nine seats each and four divisions going to the Communist Party of India, consensus continued to elude over the allotment of certain divisions such as Vakathanam, Poonjar, and Puthuppally. The issues in Pala municipality and some other panchayats were also settled through talks.
The NDA, meanwhile, had completed its deliberations by last week itself and decided to share the seats between the BJP and the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). The coalition also released its list of candidates to all 22 divisions while the candidates filed their nominations together on November 18.
The Janapaksham led by P.C. George, MLA, meanwhile, has fielded candidates in four divisions, including Poonjar and Bharanganam.
