RJD to seek three more seats in Kerala Assembly polls

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a constituent of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, is planning to seek three more seats to contest in the upcoming Assembly polls in the State.

RJD State secretary general Varughese George told the media after a leadership meeting here on Saturday that the LDF should allot more seats to the party considering its social base and performance in recent elections. The meeting was attended by RJD State president M.V. Shreyams Kumar, among others.

Mr. George said that additional seats should be in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, and Kozhikode. In the 2021 polls, the RJD had contested from Kalpetta in Wayanad, Vadakara in Kozhikode, and Koothuparamba in Kannur. It had won only from Koothuparamba.

Mr. George recalled that when the party had sought more seats ahead of the previous Assembly polls, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the then Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary, asked its leaders to be content with three seats in view of the inclusion of the Kerala Congress (M) in the LDF. He had promised to consider the RJD’s demand in the next election, Mr. George claimed.

However, during the recent bilateral talks held with CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan, LDF convener T.P. Ramakrishnan, and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member A. Vijayaraghavan, the RJD was informed that the status quo would be maintained this time. Mr. George claimed that the party plays a crucial role in the victory of the LDF candidates in various constituencies across the State. It could win one third of the seats it had contested in the recently held local body polls, in which the LDF vote share had dropped to all-time low. In view of all these factors, the RJD would want to “reopen” the talks within the LDF and with the CPI(M) over additional seats, he added.