The Hindu : Murali to back candidates approved by Sonia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 15, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Murali to back candidates approved by Sonia

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 14. The Electricity Minister, K. Muraleedharan, said here today that he, along with other Congress leaders and workers, would work towards the victory of those candidates whose names had the approval of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to media persons after a function here, Mr. Muraleedharan, responding to a question on the senior leader, K. Karunakaran's statement that only those candidates nominated by him would win the Lok Sabha elections, said the Congress could not afford to lose seats in the name of its internal dissensions. The opinions of all senior leaders, including that of Mr. Karunakaran, would be taken into account while finalising the candidates' list. There would be no dispute on this count and the party would fight the elections united, he said.

Asked about Mr. Karunakaran's view that the Congress would not be able to win the elections without a leadership change, Mr. Muraleedharan said: "I am a Minister in the Antony Cabinet and I would function as per the directions of the Chief Minister."

Earlier participating in a function organised by the Kerala Private College Teachers Association, Mr. Muraleedharan said he had to pay the price for the factional feud in the party. "The only consolation is that matters did not go out of hand. At least, I fell from one place and landed on another. There are several leaders who had fallen rather heavily," he said.

The Minister identified the lack of unified opinion as one of the main reasons for problems in the party. He said that a huge crowd would gather for a function organised by a faction, but only a handful would turn up if the party leaders were to organise one jointly.

He said that even though the UDF Government came to power two and odd years ago, the bureaucracy had hardly changed. Several officials were continuing in the same post for several years and this was perhaps one of the main reasons for the failure in implementing development projects, he observed.

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