The Hindu : Congress prefers to contest 17 seats

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 24, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Congress prefers to contest 17 seats

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 23. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) acting president, P.P. Thankachan, has said that the Congress will contest the maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha elections, preferably the same 17 constituencies it fought last time.

At a press conference, Mr. Thankachan said the party wanted to contest the maximum number of seats from Kerala to enable the Congress to emerge as the single largest party in the lower House of Parliament. The party's views would be presented at the UDF liaison committee meeting scheduled tomorrow and, as the KPCC president, he would do his duty to ensure that the party got the maximum number of seats.

The KPCC executive decided to set a two-point political agenda for the polls — a strong anti-BJP and an anti-LDF platform. The Congress Working Committee member, Ramesh Chennithala, mooted the idea of setting a political agenda. The campaign would focus on countering the propaganda that a vote for either the LDF or the UDF would only be beneficial to the prime ministerial aspirant, Sonia Gandhi.

Mr. Thankachan said the BJP-led NDA Government had persistently neglected the interests of the State during the last five years, with the latest instance being the interim Union Budget. A State such as Kerala, which had two international airports, was not considered for a convention centre, while Jaipur, which did not have such facilities, was given preference. He criticised the reported statement of "a BJP Minister hailing from Kerala" to the effect that there was no point in extending assistance to the State as it failed to return a BJP candidate. "This was totally unjust and violative of Constitutional provisions. It is also a reflection that the State will continue to be neglected if the BJP alliance comes to power again," he said.

The anti-LDF plank would focus on the Opposition front's anti-development stance. "The LDF has been opposing and trying to sabotage all development projects taken up by the UDF Government. The front leaders preach one thing and practise something different. The electorate will ponder whether it will be in the larger interest of the State to vote for such disruptive forces," he said.

The LDF claim that it had been able to complete its selection earlier was hollow. In the past, the LDF had achieved this, but the results were entirely different. And the UDF had proved that it would fight elections as a united force, despite disputes.

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