Will not join RJD: LJD Kerala unit to merge with JDS?

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Although the Lok Tantric Janata Dal merged with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Kerala unit of the party has conveyed its dissatisfaction regarding the move to the All India leadership. With this, the two Janata Dal groups within the Left Front in the state are likely to unite.

With the LJD ceasing to exist at the national level, an emergency state committee unit has been called for in Kozhikode on April 3 to decide on the future steps of the Kerala unit. The majority sentiment in the state committee and the majority district committees are in favour of merging with the Janata Dal-S to increase bargaining power in the Left Front. . During a meeting with All India leader Sharad Yadav in Delhi yesterday, MV Shreyams Kumar, Varghese George and KP Mohanan MLA made it clear that they would not join the RJD.

In view of the pressure within the state party, LJD state president MV Shreyams Kumar had met Janata Dal-S national president HD Deve Gowda in Bangalore to discuss the possibility of a merger. Although Deve Gowda agreed to the merger, he did not agree with Shreyams' demand for the post of state president. Those who argue that party power is more important than status are the majority within the LJD, so there is no going back on the merger with the JDS. That is when the national leadership of the party decided to merge the LJD with the RJD.

There are some issues in the JDS state unit in connection with the organizational election. A section is dissatisfied with the stands of Minister K Krishnankutty. There are indications that Minister Krishnankutty is taking the initiative to merge the LJD with the aim of strengthening his own side in the party. The state-level organizational elections of the Janata Dal-S will be held in Ernakulam from April 7 to 9. If the LJD merges, with the addition of KP Mohanan, the JDS will have three members in the assembly.