KC(M) to seek more seats in upcoming Kerala civic body polls

Kottayam: Kerala Congress (Mani) will be seeking more seats in the upcoming civic body polls, said party chairman Jose K Mani . He ruled out reviewing the party's political alliance and played down LDF candidate's loss in Nilambur byelection stating that it wasn't a mandate against govt.

KC(M)'s state secretariat meeting to assess the situation post-Nilambur bypolls was held at the party headquarters here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, Mani said his party was politically entitled to contest more seats in civic body polls. KC(M) assigned respective district presidents to discuss the matter with the LDF leadership in each district, he said. The party is taking the civic body polls with utmost seriousness and will be assigning state-district leaders to strengthen the work right from panchayat wards, he added.

Mani dismissed reports of talks being held with UDF. He said the statements about widening UDF surfaced due to its lack of confidence. "Nilambur election results cannot be seen as a political mandate for UDF. The result from a constituency where UDF has deep roots won't affect the possibilities of LDF govt's continuation after the next elections," he said. LDF accepts Nilambur results and will improve its activities, he added.

"KC(M) will be appointing an expert committee to conduct a comprehensive study on the needs of farmers and people living on hillsides. A manifesto that is prepared will be submitted to LDF," he said.

The meeting found fault with Congress for wild animal attacks. "The obstacle to finding a permanent solution to wildlife attacks is the Forest and Wildlife Protection Act, which was enacted in 1972 when Congress was in power at Centre. State govt's move to enact a legislation to protect the lives and property of people from wildlife attacks should be expedited. Popular issues such as land title in hilly areas and issues of farmers who cannot cut trees from their own land should be resolved in a timely manner by coordinating various govt departments. Immediate steps should be taken to increase welfare pensions for the weaker sections. Steps should be taken to increase the support price of rubber to Rs 250 per kg," said Mani.

The meeting, chaired by Mani, was attended by minister Roshy Augustine, vice-chairmen N Jayaraj, MLA, Thomas Chazhikadan, general secretary Stephen George, MLAs Pramod Narayan, Sebastian Kulathungal and former MLA Johnny Nelloor.