The UDF in Kerala is moving to broaden its coalition ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, but the expansion hit an immediate and somewhat awkward snag on Monday.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan announced that three parties — the Trinamool Congress (Kerala unit), CK Janu’s JRP, and the Kerala Kamaraj Congress — would be joining the front as associates. According to Satheesan, these groups had submitted written requests to join the opposition to help take down the LDF government.
However, the announcement was almost instantly disputed by Vishnupuram Chandrasekharan, the president of the Kerala Kamaraj Congress and a current vice-chairman of the National Democratic Alliance. Chandrasekharan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that he never applied to join the UDF and challenged the leadership to make any such "written request" public. While he didn't hide his frustration with how the Bharatiya Janata Party treats its allies, he emphasised that his roots as a swayamsevak since the age of 16 run deep, and his internal issues with the NDA aren't enough to make him switch sides. He admitted to having friendly chats with Congress leaders like Ramesh Chennithala, but insisted those never crossed the line into a formal alliance.
The UDF leadership hasn't yet responded to that denial, but they are charging ahead with their other new allies. Satheesan defended the inclusion of tribal leader CK Janu, dismissing her past role in the Muthanga agitation against a former Congress government as a product of the "prevailing situation" at the time. He noted that the UDF plans to leverage her experience to focus heavily on tribal welfare. PV Anvar, the former Nilambur MLA who had a very public falling out with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier this year, was also bullish about the move, predicting the UDF would secure more than 100 seats in the assembly.
Looking toward the campaign, the UDF is planning a massive rally from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram in February, with seat-sharing talks set to begin next month. Satheesan also laid down a strict "no-cooperation" policy, stating that the UDF would not partner with either the CPI(M) or the BJP in local body governance. Not everyone within the existing alliance is sold on the "more the merrier" approach, though. Kerala Congress (Joseph) chairman PJ Joseph pointedly remarked that strengthening the front doesn’t necessarily require bringing in new parties, specifically dismissing the idea that the Kerala Congress (Mani) faction needs to be brought back into the fold.
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