The CPM will “sacrifice” its Rajya Sabha seat the Left Democratic Front (LDF) could win to its partner Kerala Congress (Mani), in an apparent move to preserve the unity of the ruling alliance that faced a rout in the Lok Sabha polls.
LDF convener E.P. Jayarajan on Monday told a media conference in Thiruvananthapuram that the CPM would abstain from contesting and instead give the seat to Kerala Congress (Mani).
Three seats from Kerala would fall vacant with the tenures of Binoy Viswam of the CPI, Elamaram Kareem of the CPM and Jose K. Mani of the Kerala Congress (Mani) set to end on July 1.
In the second seat, the CPI nominated P.P. Suneer, who lost to Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in 2019, as its candidate for the July 25 elections.
Jayarajan said the decision to sacrifice the CPM seat was taken to protect the unity of the alliance. The Kerala Congress (Mani) named its chief Jose K. Mani as its nominee.
Since the LDF didn’t have enough strength to ensure a victory for a third candidate in place of Kareem, it went to the UDF, which gave the seat to ally Indian Union Muslim League. The IUML has nominated Supreme Court lawyer Harris Beeran as its candidate.
The CPM’s decision to sacrifice its Rajya Sabha seat comes in the wake of pressure exerted by Mani, who had recently met the LDF leaders seeking another term in the Upper House.
The Kerala Congress (Mani) was unrelenting because of the electoral loss in the Kottayam Lok Sabha constituency where its rival faction Kerala Congress (Joseph) won by over 87,000 votes. Both parties enjoy support from certain sections of Christians.
A former partner of the UDF, the Kerala Congress (Mani) joined the LDF in 2020 after being removed from the alliance. On Saturday, Jose said his party would stay with the LDF since it was the UDF that had shunted the party out of the alliance.
“There will be victories and defeats in elections. Do you think one defeat would make us leave an alliance?” Jose had countered when reporters asked him about rumours of his party returning to the UDF.
CPI state secretary Viswam lauded the CPM’s decision saying: “The CPM leaders need to be appreciated for this decision.”
