Congress-IUML standoff in Kannur corporation freezes UDF’s district-wide seat talks

Kannur: Seat-sharing in Kannur Municipal Corporation — the only corporation the UDF controls among Kerala’s six — has now frozen the front’s negotiations across the entire district.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has told the Congress it will not attend any UDF talks on seat sharing in municipalities, block panchayats or grama panchayats until its demand for three corporation divisions is settled.

On Friday evening, the UDF convened a meeting at the District Congress Committee office to sort out seat-sharing disputes in the lower tiers. But IUML leaders at every level stayed away. “I don’t think the meeting even happened. Our leaders stayed away,” said an IUML functionary.

The deadlock in the corporation has blocked finalisation of seats in six local bodies, including Payyannur and Sreekandapuram municipalities, and in Irikkur grama panchayat.

The IUML decided to boycott talks after former Congress state president K Sudhakaran — the UDF’s in-charge for Kannur Corporation — failed to break the impasse on Thursday and again on Friday.

The League has demanded Varam, Vethilappali and Adikadalayi divisions. But the Congress has insisted on maintaining the status quo.

The IUML says Varam is its natural stronghold and was handed to the Congress in 2015 — the year Kannur Corporation was formed — only because it was reserved for the Scheduled Tribe. In 2020, when Varam became a general seat, the Congress kept it and won by 181 votes.

This time, when initial talks between IUML district president Abdul Kareem Cheleri and Congress district president Martin George failed, the League released a letter written by then DCC president Satheeshan Pacheni promising the Varam seat to the IUML in the next election, in exchange for an equally important seat.

“Sudhakaran tried to reason with the district leadership using the letter. But the Congress refused to budge,” said the IUML functionary quoted above.

IUML has agreed to part with the Valiyannur division — now reserved for the Scheduled Tribe — even though it is a seat the League won comfortably last time by 469 votes. “But the Congress is not happy with Valiyannur. They want Pallipram,” the IUML leader said. IUML won Pallipram by over 700 votes and will not give it up.

The Congress contested at Vethilappali in 2015 and 2020, winning comfortably. And at Adikadalayi division, Congress lost to the CPI in 2015 and 2020.

Congress sources counter that IUML’s main interest is Varam, and the other seats are bargaining chips. The League wants Varam to field its district vice-president, K P Thahir — a close associate of K M Shaji. “That will clear the way for Kareem Cheleri to contest Azhikode in the Assembly polls,” a UDF leader said.

The Congress and the IUML have had a strained working relationship within the corporation. In 2020, the Congress contested 36 seats and IUML 18. The Congress won 20; IUML won 14. As the bigger party, the Congress held the mayor’s post first. The two parties had agreed to split the mayorship for 2.5 years each — but Mayor T O Mohanan refused to step down after his term, forcing the IUML to boycott corporation events except the council meetings. He vacated the post in January 2024 only after Opposition Leader V D Satheesan intervened.

Adding fuel to the present crisis is the return of rebel politics. Former deputy mayor and Congress councillor P K Ragesh — who revived his breakaway outfit Aikya Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi and was suspended in 2016 for anti-party activity — has announced he will field candidates in at least 15 divisions.

In 2015, when the LDF and UDF were tied 27-27, Ragesh — then an Independent — helped the LDF elect Kannur Corporation’s first mayor and became deputy mayor himself. In 2020, the Congress brought him back as its candidate, but he split again after falling out with Mayor Mohanan.

LDF convenor N Chandran said the Left Front is in talks with him. Ragesh denies it. “Which means he is keeping his cards close to his chest,” said a political observer. “If the Left offers him four divisions, he may well return to their fold.”

Despite the stalemate, IUML leaders insist that the Congress–IUML partnership will eventually hold. “If the Congress and the IUML fight together, we will win at least 40 seats. The threat is only if we end up contesting against each other,” said the IUML functionary quoted earlier.