Tension in Kerala Congress a cause for concern for UDF coalition partners

Unrest is brewing in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala as the coalition partners are unhappy over the simmering differences in the Congress leadership even as the Lok Sabha elections are less than a year away.

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which is the second largest coalition partner in the UDF, is learnt to have taken serious note of the matter at its state leadership meeting the other day. Another coalition partner Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) had also expressed concerns over the infighting in the Congress on many occasions.

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Meanwhile, the BJP has already kicked off its preparations for the Lok Sabha elections. Party national president J P Nadda is scheduled to come to Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Apart from meetings to be held as part of the Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan programme, he would also be holding internal party meetings to discuss the preparations for the Lok Sabha polls.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, UDF won 19 out of 20 seats in Kerala, including Wayanad, which was represented by Rahul Gandhi. The BJP is yet to open an account in Kerala to the Lok Sabha.

UDF convenor M M Hassan told DH that no coalition partner has formally expressed any displeasure to the leadership.

"We have also initiated works at the grassroot levels for the Lok Sabha polls. Meetings with coalition parties in this regard would also begin soon," he said, adding that the fight in Kerala would be between the UDF and the left-front only and the BJP would not have any presence.

Leader of a UDF coalition party said that though anti-CPM feeling is increasing among people, the UDF should be able to cash in on it. Unity among the party leaders is very essential for that - as was witnessed in the recently held Karnataka polls, he said.

Recently the Congress witnessed many senior leaders, including the UDF convenor, openly expressing differences with the Congress state leaderships over the ongoing reconstitution of party block committees.