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VS says it is best for Antony to quit

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 8. The Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan, today asked A.K. Antony to resign as the Chief Minister of the State "since the UDF constituents too have come out against him''.

``In addition to a prominent section within his own party, all the constituent parties in the UDF are now opposed to his leadership. It is best for him to resign as the Chief Minister,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said at a press conference here.

He noted that Mr. Antony had wanted the Government to take a confidence vote in the State Assembly to bypass the challenge posed by the motion for the removal of the Speaker that the Opposition desired to move in the House. But the UDF constituents, which met here yesterday, rejected Mr. Antony's suggestion outright.

``Under the circumstances, how can he continue as the leader of the coalition? The UDF convener, Oommen Chandy, too had been mooting the very same suggestion. Obviously, the UDF partners have repudiated him also,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said.

He said the LDF had all along been warning the people of the State about the dangers of Mr. Antony's way of handling the Government. His policy of propitiating various communal forces led to flare-ups at Pathanamthitta, Marad, Thyckal and Marad a second time, Mr. Achuthanandan alleged.

He said the Antony Government had commercialised the education sector, crippled the traditional industries and the farm sector and slashed jobs in the public sector. The police, instead of serving the people, were finding pleasure in bullying the people. And public sector units were being peddled away, he alleged.

These wrong policies being pursued by the Antony Government, against which the LDF had organised several popular agitations during the last two-and-a-half years had alienated Mr. Antony even from his close friends, Mr. Achuthanandan said.

``The Union Minister, O. Rajagopal, and the BJP State president, P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, are his only supporters now,'' he said.

Asked if Mr. Antony were to reject his `advice' to step down as Chief Minister, the LDF would move a no-confidence motion against him in the Assembly, Mr. Achuthanandan said: "He is already on the way out.''

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