Seat-sharing talks pick up in Kottayam

With just days left for the State Election Commission to announce the local body elections, the political engines of Kottayam are revving with the three major coalition in the State almost reaching the final stages of seat-sharing talks.

While the coalitions have wrapped up their primary discussions in most grama panchayats and municipalities, negotiations at the block and district panchayat level are set to take centre stage this week. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has finalised seat-sharing arrangements in 27 grama panchayats and in the Kottayam, Ettumanur and Pala municipalities and is slated to hash out allocations for the district panchayat divisions by Wednesday.

Sources indicate that the Kerala Congress (M) has secured a bigger slice of the pie this time, reflecting its strengthened position after ward delimitation.

“The last local body elections came soon after the KC(M) joined the Left front, yet the party made significant gains. This time, with more wards added, our demand for additional seats was natural and the LDF has responded positively,” said Lopez Mathew, KC(M) district president and LDF convener in Kottayam.

Delimitation has increased the district panchayat divisions from 22 to 23. In 2020, the CPI(M) and KC(M) contested in nine seats each while the CPI contested in four seats. The KC(M) has set its eyes on the newly formed Thalanad division, carved out of Poonjar, a stronghold of the party.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) has completed the first round of talks, settling around 75% of the seat allocations in the panchayats without disputes. Panchayat committees are still deliberating on the remaining seats, while municipal negotiations continue. “District-level discussions are expected to follow the official poll announcement, led by the UDF district committee’’, said Philson Mathews, convener of the UDF

In the previous election, the Congress contested 14 divisions and the Kerala Congress led by P.J. Joseph contested eight. This time, the Congress is expected to take the new Thalanad division, and the Velloor division, now reserved for women, will likely go to the Congress as well. Congress sources said the party is looking to contest in 17 divisions, with five seas for the Kerala Congress. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is also expected to stake its claim, possibly the Mundakayam division.

The seat-sharing talks have picked up pace within the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance too, which is expected to make the first round of candidate announcements in a couple of days. In the previous election, the BJP had contested in 20 seats and the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena in two seats.

“The ward-level committees in almost all panchayats have proposed the list of candidates, which are being scrutinised at the district level. The sea sharing with the BDJS is also in he final stages,’’ said N.Hari, president, central zone committee of the BJP