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Days after RSP defected from the Left front to join the ruling UDF in Kerala, an upbeat Chief Minister Oomen Chandy today said the development is a “morale booster” for the Congress-led alliance and reflects disarray and demoralisation in the rival LDF.
Seeing it as a “big blow” to the CPI(M), he expressed confidence that the UDF will win up to 18 out of 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala in the April 10 elections.
Slamming the CPI(M), Chandy said the Left party had been trying to poach some of the members of United Democratic Front (UDF) but instead, lost one of its own key constituent (RSP).
“One of the key Left parties RSP joined us. Definitely their decision to join us is a morale booster for us and demoralisation for the Left parties,” he told PTI in an interview here.
The Kerala unit of RSP last week quit the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in protest against the denial of the seat. The RSP leadership had alleged that the CPI(M) had adopted the strategy to weaken their party.
Chandy, who is also known for his shrewd political moves, blamed CPI(M)’s “arrogance” for the defection of RSP and the bad state of affairs in the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
He claimed that the general political situation in Kerala is in favour of UDF while the LDF is “demoralised” and in disarray.
In the last Lok Sabha polls, the UDF had won 16 seats and the LDF could secure only four seats.
Attacking the LDF, Chandy said “they are trying to get some parties from the UDF.”
The Congress this time is contesting 15 of the 20 seats. Last time, it had contested 17 of the 20 seats and won 13 while its partners IUML emerged victorious in two and Kerala Congress (M) one.
This time, Congress gave the Kollam seat from its kitty to the RSP and Palakkad, where the party had unsuccessfully contested last time, to the SJD. Former Union minister MP Veerendrakumar is the SJD nominee in Palakkad.
The new faces in the Congress list include state Mahila Congress president Bindu Krishna (Attingal), T Siddique (Kasargode) and Dean Kuriakose (Idukki).
The IUML has announced Union minister E Ahamed for Malappuram and ET Muhammad Basheer from Ponanni.
The Kerala Congress(M) will be putting up Jose K Mani from his sitting seat Kottayam for a second bid.
The CPI(M), the lead partner in LDF, is yet to finalise the list of candidates but CPI has announced its nominees for the four seats allocated to the party. One seat has been allocated to Janata Dal (S) which is yet to decide on its contestant.
The BJP has also announced its contestants for most of the seats, which include senior leader and former Union minister O Rajagopal in Thiruvananthapuram.
The fledgling AAP has also drawn up a list for some seats, which includes eminent writer Sara Joseph.
