As the Left Democratic Front (LDF) seat-sharing talks continue in the upcoming assembly elections, there is a rift between the two factions of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) (NCP(SP)) in Kozhikode’s Elathur constituency.
While the NCP (SP) Kozhikode district committee and most of the ‘mandalam’ committees are against re-instating sitting MLA and Forest Minister AK Saseendran from there, another section has demanded that he be retained.
However, NCP(SP) state president and Kuttanad MLA Thomas K. Thomas told The Hindu on Thursday that the party would take an “appropriate decision” after detailed discussions. “People can have their own ambitions and dreams. NCP has a candidate selection system. We will select the candidate for the seats allotted to us,” he said. It is to be noted that a similar situation arose ahead of the 2021 polls. However, Mr. Saseendran managed to retain his candidature with the support of NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The NCP was then fighting from Elathur, Kuttanad and Kottakkal.
Mr. Saseendran has represented Elathur, a stronghold of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), since 2011. In 2021, he defeated United Democratic Front-backed independent Sulphikar Mayoori by a margin of 38,502 votes.
He was earlier MLA for Peringalam (1980) and Edakkad (1982) in Kannur and Balussery in Kozhikode (2006). Mr Saseendran also served as Transport Minister from 2016 to 2017 and then from 2018 to 2021 in the first Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet. Opponents are of the opinion that the experienced leader should make way for others this time.
At the district executive committee meeting held a few days ago, representatives of the two groups also clashed with each other after a resolution was passed proposing Mukkom Mohammed, the district president of the party, as a candidate from Elathur. Most of the ‘mandalam’ committees in the district also opposed Mr. Saseendran’s candidature. Then the Elathur “mandalam” committee separately passed a resolution in support of him. Asked about his candidature, Mr. Saseendran recently told the media that the party would take a final call on the matter.
Published – 05 March 2026 20:28 IST
