Kozhikode, Friday 07 January 2011: The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) would be demanding more seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

The general opinion prevailed in the state council meet held here was to demand all the new four assembly segments formed in Malappuram as part of the de-limitation process. Four new assembly seats would be there in the district, with the total number of seats rising to16 from the present 12.

Earlier report

IUML has launched a search for candidates “with mass support and excellent winning chance” for the Assembly polls. Members of the IUML State council were told at a meeting here on Thursday to find party men who could be considered to contest in the Assembly elections.

State general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty told the media that the need to field candidates with a strong chance of winning the election was emphasised by State president Syed Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal at the meeting. Kunhalikutty said decentralisation of administration for which the local body polls were held recently had helped his party brush up its secular image.

The IUML was keen to further brighten its secular image. A certain amount of success in this matter had been already achieved in the local body elections. The party now had representatives from Dalits and other communities. It wanted to have representation cutting across professional and gender barriers also, he added.

The consultation with the State council members on Thursday was also aimed at strengthening the party’s democratic character, Kunhalikutty said.

It was also announced that party members who had been elected to executive posts in the local bodies would resign from party positions before January 30. This was in line with the leadership’s decision to enforce one person one post norm.

(With agency inputs)