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KC(M) meet finalises campaign strategy

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM Oct. 27. The party secretariat meeting of the Kerala Congress (M) held here today finalised the arrangements for the campaign for the by-elections for Thiruvalla scheduled for December 1.

According to sources, the deliberations centred round the single point agenda of by-elections. Issues like the intensified faction fight in the Congress which has already spread to the UDF, the issues troubling the local unit of the party and also the issue of the Orthodox church also came up for discussions.

The party supreme, K. M. Mani, assured the presence of the KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan, at the launching of the election campaign on Tuesday. It may be one of the few public appearances of the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, together with the KPCC president ever since the flare-up in the faction fight within the Congress.

The party leaders were appraised of the situation arising out of the issues raised by the Orthodox faction hierarchy a few days back. According to party sources, Mr. Mani had assured them that the church would stand with the UDF and the signals emanating from the church were clear pointers to this fact.

While those in the opposition camp had expected sharp objections to the candidature of Elizabeth Mammen, the fact that today's meeting was a tame affair points to the fact that major issues of conflict within the party at the local level had been reduced to manageable levels by the deft handling of the situation by the leadership.

While new posts and accommodations will not be announced before the elections, it is learnt that such assurances have been extended to the disgruntled elements with the party local unit.

The KC(M) chairman, C. F. Thomas, presided. The Secretariat members from Thiruvalla were absent in today's meeting as they were busy with the arrangements for Tuesday's campaign launch, according to party sources.

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