Kasaragod (Kerala) | The SDPI on Thursday withdrew its candidate, Ashraf K M, from the Manjeshwar Assembly constituency, claiming the move was aimed at supporting other parties fighting the BJP.

Following a morning meeting at Uppala attended by state leaders, Ashraf withdrew his nomination, a decision that reportedly triggered differences during the meeting.

Ashraf, who was said to have initially been reluctant to withdraw, walked out of the meeting.

After coming out of the meeting, he said the state leadership would explain the decision.

Ashraf was contesting against BJP former state president K Surendran and IUML candidate A K M Ashraf.

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is contesting 44 seats across Kerala in the April 9 Assembly elections.

Party sources said the candidate was withdrawn as his presence could affect the prospects of other secular parties contesting against the BJP in the constituency.

In a statement, SDPI state secretary Ansari Enath said decisions on where a political party should contest and what political line it should adopt are internal matters.

He said the party had earlier stated that it would support a common candidate in constituencies where the BJP had strong winning chances, failing which it would field its own candidates.

He also criticised mainstream political fronts for allegedly mobilising minority votes by raising fears over the BJP while failing to counter its politics ideologically.

Citing examples in Kottangal in Pathanamthitta and various local bodies in Karnataka, he said the SDPI had continued to contest despite a strong BJP presence and had grown into a political force capable of keeping the saffron party out of power.

He said the announcement of a candidate in Manjeshwar was meant to demonstrate that this is possible in Assembly constituencies as well.

He said both the decision to contest and withdraw were taken by the party.