Saturday, Feb 21, 2004
Saturday, Feb 21, 2004 |
| Kerala | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Kerala
By R. Madhavan Nair
KOZHIKODE, FEB. 20. A meeting of the State working committee of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is being held at the League House here tomorrow to take stock of the political situation in the context of the forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha. Apart from reviewing the recent developments in the Congress, including K. Muraleedharan stepping down from his post as the KPCC president and joining the the Antony Ministry, the League leadership is also expected to address some of its own party problems for which immediate answers had to be found. One issue relates to the choice of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections from its bastions, Ponnani and Manjeri, where party candidates had been winning in a canter for years. The League leadership is confident of repeating electoral victories in the two constituencies. But this was also the time to consider whether the two leaders who had posted spectacular victories in the last elections — E. Ahmed and G.M. Banatwala — should be fielded again. The State president, Syed Mohammed Ali Shihab Thangal, as usual will have the last word on this matter. The party's efforts to ensure adequate representation for the Muslim community in Government service was another issue which the League leadership would have to review since certain groups had been accusing the League of going soft on this demand. The IUML leaders had already made it clear they were ready to hold parleys with all organisations that had a stake in this sensitive issue and try for a consensus. A Cabinet sub-committee had already been constituted for the purpose. But the NSS had already made it clear it was in no mood to dilute its opposition to the demand for implementation of the Narendran Commission recommendations for job quota for minorities. The stand taken by the NSS was now a major hurdle in the IUML's search for a consensus. Even though it would have to tackle this and a few other thorny and sensitive matters, the League leadership had a reason to be in a happy frame of mind. It had been able to play an active role in pacifying at least for the time being the two warring groups in State Congress, which had been threatening to undermine the stability of the United Democratic Front. A collapse of the Antony Government would have been disastrous for the IUML since the CPI(M) leadership had announced it would support an alternative government only if the League was kept out of it.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2004, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
