By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala’s opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) Monday said it was geared up for polls that would be held in the first phase on April 16 in the state even as the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has failed to resolve seat-sharing deadlock up till now.
The Congress-led UDF has decided to go with the same seat-sharing formula as it had in 2004. The Congress will contest 17 seats, the Indian Union Muslim League two seats and the Kerala Congress (Mani) one.
“We had a feeling that Kerala would have an early poll and we finalised the seat sharing also. We are fully geared up for the poll and are happy that there will be one-day election in the state,” UDF convenor P.P. Thankachen told reporters here.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led ruling LDF has not been able to decide on seat sharing even after two rounds of discussions.
In the 2004 elections, CPI-M contested 14 seats, the Communist Party of India four and the Janata Dal-Secular and Kerala Congress (Joseph) one each.
“We are meeting again tomorrow (Tuesday) and we are confident to iron out all the differences,” said an LDF leader who did not wish to be identified.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Congress-S and the Nationalist Congress Party are also part of the ruling front.
The delimitation exercise has not altered the number of constituencies but there have been changes in the boundaries of quite a number of them.
The Lok Sabha seats that have disappeared include Muvattupuzha, Manjeri, Mukundapuram, Adoor (reserved), Ottapalam (reserved) and Chirayinkeezhu.
The new constituencies that have come up are Malappuram, Chalakudy, Pathanamthitta, Attingal, Alathur (reserved) and Wayanad.