Kozhikode: Signalling that the rift between the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the CPM may deepen in the coming days, the state leadership meeting of the Rashtriya Janata Dal held in Kozhikode on Saturday has decided to stick to its demand for three additional seats to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections.

In the previous Assembly elections, the party contested in Koothuparamba, Vadakara and Kalpetta constituencies. This time, the party has demanded that the CPM-led Left Democratic Front allot three more seats — Koduvally, Kovalam and Chalakudy — to its candidates.

Recent speculation over a possible switch by the RJD from the LDF to the United Democratic Front resurfaced after the party's Kozhikode district committee blamed the CPM for the defeat of its candidates in the recent local body elections. The allegation prompted the CPM to initiate reconciliation talks with RJD leaders.

However, RJD leaders said the CPM has not shown willingness to address the party's demand for additional seats. The issue is expected to be raised again in the next LDF meeting. "CPM has not agreed to our demand for additional seats. The party should honour the promise made by its former State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who had assured additional seats for the 2026 Assembly elections," said Varghese George, the party's State general secretary.

Sources said the CPM had suggested that the RJD give up the Kalpetta seat if it wanted to contest from Koduvally. However, RJD leaders strongly opposed the proposal.

Meanwhile, the RJD's North and South mandalam committees in Kozhikode recently informed the party's state leadership that they would not cooperate with the LDF in the upcoming Assembly elections. The district leadership had alleged that sections of the CPM's local leadership played an active role in the defeat of RJD candidates in Nadakkavu, Moonnalingal and Mavoor Road wards of the Kozhikode Corporation in the recent local body polls.

In the previous Assembly elections, the RJD contested three seats but managed to win only Koothuparamba, where K P Mohanan emerged victorious. Senior party leader M V Sreyams Kumar was defeated by Congress leader T Siddique in the Kalpetta constituency by a margin of 5,470 votes. Sreyams Kumar had earlier won the seat in the 2006 elections by defeating K K Ramachandran Master.

The RJD has been expressing dissatisfaction for several months, alleging that it has not received due consideration within the LDF. When the party was part of the UDF, it was allotted seven Assembly seats to contest, along with a Rajya Sabha seat.

Although the Rajya Sabha seat earlier held by M P Veerendra Kumar during the party's stint in the UDF was later given to Sreyams Kumar after the RJD joined the LDF, the seat was taken back after the completion of his tenure.

The party's dissatisfaction deepened further when the LDF denied it a ministerial berth, even as four other parties with a single MLA each were accommodated in the Cabinet.