The Hindu : Efforts to broker peace in Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Efforts to broker peace in Congress

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI, FEB. 4. `Informal' efforts to broker peace with the disgruntled senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, were made by the party today through his long-standing friend and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, R. K. Dhawan. Though both refused to divulge details about their meeting, Mr. Karunakaran indicated that there were positive developments and said he would take a final decision after discussing the entire issue threadbare with his colleagues in Kerala.

While Mr. Dhawan maintained that he had not gone to meet Mr. Karunakaran as AICC representative and termed the meeting as only a `courtesy call', the octogenarian leader said he had been given to understand otherwise. Stating that there was some improvement since last week - when he threatened to float a party of his own - the seasoned politician was reluctant to say much as the talks were yet to conclude.

Despite signs of having given up his hardline position, the veteran Congress leader said he had not budged from the stance he had taken last Wednesday. ``What I said was that if there is no other way out, then we would consider forming a new party.'' While keeping his guns trained on the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, for poor administration, he echoed the Congress official stance vis-a-vis Cabinet reshuffle and portfolio allocation: ``It is the Chief Minister's prerogative. But in a coalition government, the allies have to be consulted and the `I' group by virtue of being a faction should have been consulted.''

Distancing himself from his son and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, K. Muraleedharan's decision to join the Antony Cabinet, Mr. Karunakaran said the `I' group was not consulted in this regard. And, as far as he is concerned, Mr. Muraleedharan's entry into the Cabinet would not improve matters vis-a-vis administration in the State.

For his part, Mr. Dhawan said he advised Mr. Karunakaran against forming another party, but refused to disclose what the response was. ``He neither said yes, nor said no.'' Hopeful that Mr. Karunakaran would not go for a split, he said, ``in politics, there is never a dead-end.''

Earlier in the day, Mr. Dhawan had a detailed discussion with Mr. Muraleedharan. The outgoing KPCC president was also scheduled to meet the AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, Ahmed Patel, later in the night and is likely to meet the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, on Thursday while his father has decided to return home tomorrow morning to decide on his future course of action.

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