The Hindu : RSP(B) stakes claim to Kollam Lok Sabha seat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 25, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

RSP(B) stakes claim to Kollam Lok Sabha seat

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 24. The RSP(B), a minor partner in the UDF, has staked its claim for the Kollam Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

The RSP(B) state secretary, A.V. Thamarakshan, said here today that the party was making this claim because the Kollam Lok Sabha seat had been traditionally fought by the RSP. He said that the RSP was not part of the UDF in the previous Parliamentary elections and with its entry into the UDF, the seat should be allotted to it.

He said that a secular front, headed by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, alone could put up a fight against the fascist forces led by the BJP. His party had, as early as 1999, called for a secular front under the leadership of the Congress and the Congress decision to forge a coalition was a vindication of the RSP stand.

As far as his party was concerned, the controversy over Ms. Gandhi's nationality was irrelevant. The BJP-led NDA's claims about a better economic situation were hollow and it had failed to address issues such as poverty, which directly affected the common man.

He said that the RSP(B) wanted the crisis in the Congress to be settled at the earliest so that the UDF could fight the Lok Sabha elections unitedly. He said that his party took pride in being able to bring up a settlement formula in the Congress and looked forward to an amicable settlement.

He said that his party had given an eight-point charter to Ms. Gandhi to be included in the election manifesto of the proposed front.

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