Thiruvananthapuram: The stalemate over seat sharing in Congress-led UDF in Kerala continued on Friday with partners Kerala Congress (Mani) and JSS unrelenting in their stand that they should get a greater share of seats.
The leadership meeting of the KC (M) in Kottayam resolved that the party should not scale down its demand for 22 seats and the Congress's offer of 13 seats was not acceptable.
"We have not pulled out from the discussions. However, the offer of 13 seats made by the Congress is not acceptable for us," KC (M) leader K M Mani told reporters after the party's steering committee meeting.
The meeting authorised Mani to take suitable stand during the next round of negotiations with the Congress leaders.
KC(M), which was allotted 11 seats last time, has doubled the demand on the ground that the party's strength had gone up significantly after Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction merged with it about a year back.
However, the Congress had made it clear that KC-M's demand was quite "unrealistic" as it was for the partner to accommodate the newcomers within level of seats it contested in 2006.
The KC-M's stand has posed difficulties for the Congress in the Christian heartland of Central Travancore region, where KC (M) would be fielding most of its aspirants.
Increasing the number of KC-M's seats would make it difficult for Congress to strike a communal balance in the region, where the UDF lead partner also has to put up some of its prominent Christian faces.
Meanwhile, Janathipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) led by K R Gowry Amma, continued to maintain that her party would accept nothing short of the five seats it contested last time.
Gowry Amma said her party leaders would meet on Sunday and decide its future course if an agreement eluded at the next round of discussions.
Once a firebrand CPI-M leader, Gowry Amma floated the JSS about 15 years ago and joined the UDF.
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