KOTTAYAM: There is a possibility of the Kerala Congress (Mani) faction to move towards the Left Front. There will be a decision on it before the polls to local-self-governing bodies. The Left has started informal talks with Jose K Mani after CPI appeared to be warming up with them. The assessment of the UDF so far was that Jose K Mani will not go to the LDF as he may not get the seat he deserves in the assembly. Ramesh Chennithala had the other day lashed out at him saying that if he is leaving after convinced that the atmosphere has changed, he should have the decency to resign his Rajya Sabha seat.

The decision of the UDF will be to face the moves of Jose K Mani unitedly. The UDF leadership is a bit anxious on that if Jose faction joins the LDF, will there be a setback in Kuttanad. Majority of the leaders assess that he will not be able to create a motion in the constituency where Joseph faction was competing constantly.

There will be no change in the decision of the UDF to give the Kuttanad seat to Joseph faction. Following the approval of the Election Commission, the Jose faction rejected the soft approach taken by the Congress leadership. The UDF cannot take a tough stand as Jose did not take a decision on quitting the front at the steering committee meeting held in Kottayam. The Jose faction has decided to go ahead with a move to disqualify PJ Joseph and Mons Joseph for violating the whip.