Southern States - Kerala   

Antony group sceptical about KPCC chief's offer

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM NOV. 15. The KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan's expression of willingness for talks to solve the crisis in the State unit of the Congress has met with scepticism from the Antony camp.

The Antony group sees Mr. Muraleedharan's statement as part of some fresh strategy being devised following the failure of the moves to split the party and form an alternative Government with LDF support. It noted that even while proposing talks, Mr. Muraleedharan had resorted to strong criticism of the Chief Minister.

``If one doubts that Mr. Muraleedharan's objective was something other than settlement of the issues, one cannot be blamed for that,'' said the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy. If the KPCC president was sincere about the talks, the Antony group wanted him to prove that. They were also setting norms for that, which might be considered rather tough under the prevailing conditions in the party.

Mr. Chandy said that Mr. Muraleedharan should prove his sincerity by taking disciplinary action against those who had breached party discipline. He should also avoid criticising the Chief Minister and the Government and campaign for the UDF candidate in the by-election from Thiruvalla.

K.K. Ramachandran Master, MLA, went a step further and questioned the propriety of Mr. Muraleedharan saying that the Chief Minister should take the lead for talks.

``It is Mr. Muraleedharan who should be repenting after having tried to bring down the Antony Government. He should ask his father, K. Karunakaran, to take the initiative for talks,'' Mr. Ramachandran Master said.

Mr. Chandy said in a statement that the attempts of the Karunakaran faction to form an alternative Government by aligning with the CPI(M) and split the party by organising rallies had failed. Most Congress MLAs and party supporters were against moves to take the party into the CPI(M) camp.

He said that the Antony faction would not foster any moves to split the party. Neither would it approve of any moves to weaken the UDF or its Government. It would, however, cooperate to take the party forward as a united entity. The Revolutionary Socialist Party (Bolshevik) leader, A.V. Thamarakshan, called for talks between the Congress factions. "Now that the KPCC president had expressed willingness for talks, the Chief Minister should take the lead for discussions,'' he said.

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