Southern States - Kerala   

No point in further talks: Murali

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI SEPT. 16. The parleys undertaken by the AICC functionaries to find a solution to the Congress crisis in the State are of little use at this eleventh hour, the KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan, said here today.

He has said there is no point in holding any discussion with the Antony faction with barely one week to go before the Ernakulam Lok Sabha by-polls.

Talking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, Mr. Muraleedharan said he was confident of the UDF candidate's victory. Nobody had given any call to defeat the official candidate of the UDF, he said. And no `serious problems' had so far been reported from the Ernakulam constituency regarding the campaigning process.

However, he stressed the need for maintaining `certain reservations,' on making political comments during the campaigning. All such comments could wait till the poll on September 23 was over. For the time being, he was actively participating in electioneering, taking part in all programmes charted out by the election committee.

Answering a question, Mr.Muraleedharan ruled out any `secret pact' between the BJP and the UDF to transfer a chunk of the BJP votes to ensure the UDF candidate's victory. Responding to the criticisms raised against him by some Congress leaders for participating in the all-party meet on Marad held in Kozhikode on Sunday, Mr. Muraleedharan said that the convention had only endorsed the Government's peace initiatives and would only help in lessening LDF's attempts to make political mileage out of the issue.

Sharon Issue

Regarding the controversy surrounding the Tourism and Fisheries Minister, K.V. Thomas' meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, during his India visit, Mr. Muraleedharan said that any action against Mr. Thomas would have to be initiated by the Chief Minister, since he was a member of the Cabinet.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Speaker rejects Court directive
• Factional fight affects Cong. poll campaign
• Episcopal jubilee of Mar Themothios begins
• Idamalayar case: VS files petition
• No point in further talks: Murali
• Nursing colleges oppose fee structure

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu