NCP splits in Kerala ahead of assembly polls
Thiruvanathapuram/IBNS : Nationalist Congress Party, a constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, has split ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, said media reports.
Mani C Kappan, Kerala NCP leader and Pala MLA announced that he was joining Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), Hindustan Times reported.
LDF had planned to handover the Pala assembly seat in Kottayam to Kerala Congress (M), a state-level political party, led by Jose K Mani, after breaking its decade-old alliance with the UDF.
The report said that UDF will field Kappan for the seat. Kappan had won the seat in 2019 bypoll for the LDF coalition but it decided to handover the seat to Kerala Congress (M) for the assembly polls.
This led to Kappan's exit from LDF and NCP. He also claimed the support of seven district presidents and nine office bearers of the NCP, the report stated.
He told the press that he hopes that UDF will accommodate his faction in the alliance and said that he will join UDF's state-wide rally--Aiswarya Kerala Yatra-- on Sunday in his assembly constituency.
Kappan had won the Pala bypolls in 2019 after defeating Kerala Congress leader Jose Tom from the UDF. The bypoll was necessitated after Kerala Congress leader KM Mani, who had represented the seat for over 50 years, passed away.
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