Kottayam: Amid intense political speculation over KC(M)'s return to the UDF, party chairman Jose K Mani on Tuesday broke his silence, seeking to reassure party unity. In his Facebook post, Mani did not deny reports of discussions with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and V D Satheeshan. The note, marked by deliberate vagueness, stopped short of ruling out such discussions, thereby keeping alive speculation about his party's potential return to the UDF.

He carefully avoided any categorical denial of reports about a possible political realignment in a post that was edited three times in less than an hour.

He said that the party’s political stance had been clarified repeatedly and that it remains with the Left Front. The part mentioning the Left Front was conspicuously absent from the initial post, which was then changed to assert allegiance to the LDF.

In the post, Mani said that discussions and speculation outside the party regarding its political position had nothing to do with KC(M), and asserted that the party would move forward in unity. He also warned that those making comments on the issue were “consciously part of an agenda to destabilise the party.”

Explaining his absence from the state government’s protest programme held in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Mani said he had to travel outside Kerala for unavoidable personal reasons and that he had informed the LDF leaders in advance. He also pointed out that all KC(M) MLAs had participated in the protest.

KC(M) joined the LDF ahead of the 2020 local body elections. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the party contested 12 seats and won five.