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`I' group meet cautious on leadership change

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE OCT. 21. The convention organised by the Karunakaran faction of the Congress party here today, was largely attended but none of the senior leaders who spoke pushed forward the agenda of the `I' group for a change in the leadership in the Congress party.

But they warned the Central leadership that the Congress party would get the same result, like the Ernakulam Lok Sabha bypoll, in future if it tried to subdue the veteran leader, Mr. Karunakaran.

The absence of Mr. Karunakaran at the convention also indicated that the convention was basically a show of strength to regroup the Congress activists rather than seek an immediate replacement of Mr. Antony from the Chief Minister's post.

The Electricity Minister, Kadavoor Sivadasan, who inaugurated the convention held at the Tagore Centenary Hall in the morning, did not raise such a demand, but demanded that the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, change his style of functioning in the State. The style once practised by Mr. Karunakaran during his time as Chief Minister should also be adopted by Mr. Antony, he added.

He was very critical of Mr. Antony's style of governance which he said led to the debacle in the recent Ernakulam bypoll. The Congress party simply asked for a defeat. Mr. Antony's handling of the Marad rehabilitation issue alienated the minorities from the State Government. The rehabilitation undertaken now had become like an installment scheme, Mr. Sivadasan said.

Mr. Antony should seek the forgiveness of Mr. Karunkaran for dislodging him from the Chief Minister's post years ago. Then he should apologise for chalking out strategies along with his cronies to frame false charges against Mr. Karunakaran, he said.

He also said that the anti-Karunakaran faction wanted the high command to initiate disciplinary action against the Karunakaran faction leaders since they were pinpointing the failures of the Antony Government.

Disciplinary action should be first taken against the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy, for organising group meetings in all the districts of the State.

His colleague in the State Cabinet and a protege of Mr. Karunakaran, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, P. Sankaran, was also cautious enough not to demand the dismissal of the Chief Minister. However, he maintained that Mr. Antony needed to accommodate the suggestions and opinions of his adversaries.

He said that if the Central leadership failed to recognise the calibre of a leader like Mr. Karunakaran, the party was doomed to be a big zero in the ensuing Assembly polls in five States this year and the next Parliamentary elections. The high command also should take a positive decision in recognising the leadership qualities of Mr. Karunakaran, Mr. Sankaran said.

Echoing the words of earlier speakers, the senior Congress leader, P. C. Chacko, also said that if Mr. Antony failed to change his style of functioning he would share the fate of Vilas Rao Deshmukh, who had been removed from the Chief Minister's post in Maharashtra.

He said that the convention was not aimed at splitting the party but to raise demands for a change in governance and to prosecute the guilty in the Congress party. Mr. Antony should also take note of the fact that his chair was being pulled by his trusted lieutenants, Oommen Chandy and Arayadan Mohammed, he added.

The Kozhikode District Congress Committee (DCC) president, M. Veerankutty, presided over the convention. The KPCC general secretaries, Rajmohan Unnithan, K. P. Kunhikannan and N. Venugopal, V. S. Sivakumar, MP, E. M. Augustie, MLA, former Minister, M. T. Padma, the Mahila Congress State president, Shanimol Usman, addressed the participants.

The absence of Mr. Karunakaran did not deter the workers from participating in the programme in large numbers.

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