KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress (M) have toughened their stand for a second Lok Sabha seat. After working Chairman P.J. Joseph made their intentions clear by strongly demanding for a second seat, now K.M. Mani has expressed a similar stand.

In addition to Kottayam, P.J. Joseph strongly asked for Idukki or Chalakkudy while Mani had a mild neutral stand before. However, as this could lead to a divide within the party before the end of Jose K. Mani’s ‘Kerala Yatra’, Mani strengthened his standpoint for a second seat. Also, there was majority support within the party for Joseph’s viewpoint.

Usually, Mani group is only eligible for Kottayam seat according to the proposition made by Congress when they first joined UDF. However, Joseph group will ask for a seat in any case and Mani does not want to give up the Kottayam constituency. This could well lead to a split. With the Lok Sabha election in the horizon, Kerala Congress (M) would want to avoid such a situation, as Joseph group has a history of changing Fronts at the time of the election. Joseph group was a part of previous LDF ministry and made an alliance with Mani group at the time of the election.