Senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko, who quit the grand old party earlier this month ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections, is likely to join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday.
Chacko, who quit the Congress on March 10 over alleged undemocratic ways in the candidates’ selection for the assembly elections in his home state Kerala while citing factionalism within the party, is expected to join the NCP after meeting party chief Sharad Pawar.
The move assumes significance as the NCP is a member of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) alliance in Kerala.
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The former Congress veteran, who headed the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G spectrum scam during the tenure of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, extended his full support to the LDF in Kerala prior to meeting the NCP chief .
“I am meeting Sharad Pawar. Whatever crisis the party is facing, it needs to be discussed. I am also meeting Sitaram Yechury and Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss the future course of action. I need to extend my support to the LDF,” he said.
Polling for the 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 6 while the results will be declared on May 2.
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Kerala currently has a Left coalition government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The LDF emerged victorious in the 2016 assembly elections winning 91 seats while the United Democratic Front (UDF) managed to win just 47 seats.