Minor parties may upset IUML calculations

League yet to make impact in central, southern districts

The presence of the minor Muslim political parties such as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Welfare Party of India (WPI) appears to be complicating the calculations of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the just-concluded Assembly polls. Neither the SDPI nor the WPI is aligned with the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) or the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). However, both these parties have vowed that their main purpose would be to defeat the BJP in their strongholds. The SDPI, the political wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI), has fielded 43 candidates while the WPI of the Jamaat Islami Hind, has fielded 19 candidates. However, the IUML leaders fear that the presence of the SDPI candidates might upset the calculations of the party in some of the Assembly constituencies in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.