Congress and League to swap seats; RSP demands influential constituency; preliminary discussions completed in UDF

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The possibility of Congress and League exchanging seats has increased as the preliminary seat-sharing talks between the UDF and the Muslim League that began on Tuesday were completed yesterday. This is part of the move to increase the strength of the members in the assembly elections. The League has put forward a demand for some seats in South Kerala and Central Kerala that are favourable to them.

In 2016, the League contested 24 seats and managed to win 18 candidates. However, in 2021, it contested 25 seats and managed to get only 15 candidates elected to the assembly. The aim is to avoid that situation this time. Although some leaders have expressed the opinion that they should demand more seats than they contested last time, they may be contesting in 25 seats only. At the same time, the Congress alone will not be able to sacrifice seats if more 'miracles' entries like Aisha Potty happen to the UDF.

P.K. Kunhalikutty and State General Secretary P.M.A. Salam participated in the discussion on behalf of the League. K.P.C.C President Sunny Joseph MLA, Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala, and UDF Convener Adoor Prakash held discussions with the constituent parties on behalf of the Congress.

Need a constituency of influence: RSP

The RSP also participated in the primary seat-sharing discussion yesterday. In the discussion, the RSP has demanded that constituencies like Attingal, where they contested in 2021, be replaced with a more influential constituency. State Secretary Shibu Baby John, N.K. Premachandran MP, A.A. Aziz and Babu Divakaran participated in the discussion.