Leader of the UDF, the Congress itself is a house badly divided. The seniormost Congress leader, Mr. K. Karunakaran has made no secret of his anger over the manner in which the State Congress leadership has gone about the task of seat distribution. The Congress patriarch has accused Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala and Leader of the Opposition, Oommen Chandy of taking all decisions without consulting other leaders in the party. Such arbitrary tactics would adversely affect the prospects of the Congress, which at one point of time looked extremely good, he warned.

As if the Karunakaran outburst was not enough, the Youth Congress has also openly come out against the State Congress leadership. The YC has charged the KPCC leaders with ignoring the directive of AICC general Secretary, Rahul Gandhi, to give adequate representation to candidates below the age of 40. The YC has singled out the Thiruvananthapuram District Congress leadership as the main culprit in this regard. It had a word of praise for the rival Left Democratic Front (LDF), which has given tickets generously to candidates below the age of 40.

The rift between the Congress and ally, Kerala Congress (Mani) has also widened. The KC(M) has succeeded, to some extent, in forcing the Congress to concede its demand that the seats the Kerala Congress(Joseph) faction had won as part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the 2006 elections should also be allotted to it. It may be mentioned that the KC(J) had walked out of the LDF and merged itself in the KC(M) some months ago. But the Congress and KC(M) failed to reach any agreement in Idukki district, a stronghold of the latter. The breakdown of talks has left a trail of bitterness which is sure to reflect in the final outcome of the elections in the district.

Relations between the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) have also nosedived. While the seat division talks for Malappuram district, IUML stronghold, went off smoothly, the Congress rejected the IUML's demand for more seats in Idukki district. Consequently, there could be 'friendly contests' between the two parties in the district.

Other smaller allies of the Congress like the KR Gowri-led Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS), the Communist Marxist Party(CMP) headed by M V Raghavan have also resented the Congress playing the big brother and dictating terms in the matter of seat allocation. Both Gorwi and Raghavan have gone on record that the Congress has a history of ensuring the defeat of their candidates not only in the last local bodies elections but also in the Assembly elections held in 2006. Their anger may affect the UDF's prospects in Alappuzha and Kannur districts.

The allies also refused to entertain the Congress suggestion that all the UDF constituents must give seats from their kitty to new entrants to the Front like Socialist Janata (Democratic) led by MP Veerendrakumar who broke away from the Janata Dal and walked over to the UDF camp, and the Indian National League(INL).

The unmistakable impression emerging from the seat allocation talks is that the Congress is losing its pre-eminent position as the leader of the UDF. The newfound aggressiveness of allies, especially the Kerala Congress (Mani) which has become stronger after the KC(J) merged in it, cannot but cause grave concern to the Congress leadership. There is no mistaking it: things would be tougher for the Congress in the State Assembly elections, likely to be held after May next year. (IPA Service)