The JD(U), a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), is sharply divided on the issue of leaving the front and joining the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF).

The issue has acquired an added urgency in view of the State Council meeting of the party scheduled to be held on January 18. The district councils have been told to take a decision and report to the State Council before the crucial January 18 meeting, which is expected to take a final decision in the matter.

Reports have it that the JD(U)’s exit from the UDF is imminent in view of the party’s growing rift with the Congress, which heads the UDF.

Speculation has mounted ever since CPI(M) Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan shared a platform with JD(U)’s state president, M. P. Veerendra Kumar at a function to release a book authored by the latter. At the function, Vijayan had remarked that the natural position of the socialists led by the JD(U) was with the LDF.

Ironically, it was following sharp differences with Vijayan while he was the CPI(M) state secretary that the JD(U) had left the LDF before the assembly elections in 2011, which it lost narrowly.

While majority of the district units of the party are said to be in favour of the JD(U) joining the LDF, Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan is firmly opposed to such a move. Mohanan is credited with the view that there is no need for the JD(U) to leave the UDF although there are differences with the Congress over a few issues.

Mr. Mohanan is also of the view that the CPI(M) has not changed its stance to warrant the JD(U)’s exit from the UDF. Mohanan reminded the state party leadership that it was Vijayan’s steadfast refusal to concede the Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat to the JD(U) that led to the party crossing over to the UDF.

The JD(U) at present has two MLAs: KP Mohanan and M V Shreyams Kumar, who is the son of Veerendra Kumar. The party also heads seven corporations in the state.

The JD(U) is unhappy with the Congress leadership primarily because of the latter’s refusal to take any action against the Congress leaders who caused the defeat of Veerendra Kumar from Palakkad Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. True, the Congress formed a committee to probe the issue, and the panel has submitted its report, recommending action against a few local Congress leaders who worked against Veerendra Kumar. But no action has been initiated in this connection so far to the dismay of the JD(U) despite a personal assurance from the Chief Minister.

The JD(U) is also aggrieved that in the recent local bodies elections, too, the party has been meted out a raw deal. As against around 300 seats it had won in the previous local bodies elections, this time around, the party managed to win only around 110 seats.

Concerned about the JD(U)’s growing hostility, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy recently met Veerendra Kumar to dissuade the party from leaving the UDF. Chandy, reports suggest, offered the JD(U) one of the Rajya Sabha seats from the state which will fall vacant soon. It remains to be seen whether the CM’s placatory mission will yield the desired result.

The JD(U) has pockets of influence in three districts: Kozhikode, Wayanad and Palakkad. While Shreyams Kumar represents Kalpata constituency in Wayanad district, in the assembly, Agriculture Minister is the JD(U) MLA from Koothuparamba. If the party finally decides to leave the UDF, it will undoubtedly impact the result from at least a few constituencies in Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. Hence, the efforts of the Congress to ensure that the JD(U) stays with the front, and the attempts of the LDF to win it over to their side at any cost. (IPA Service)