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RSP(B) meet today; Minister taken ill

By Ignatius Pereira

KOLLAM, SEPT. 13. On the eve of the crucial RSP(B) State secretariat meeting scheduled to be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, the personal staff of the Labour Minister, Babu Divakaran, have informed the party leaders that the Minister has been admitted to the KIMS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, and has been advised rest for two days. As such Mr. Divakaran will not be able to attend the meeting, they conveyed.

Split in the offing

The scheduled meeting is crucial since many here see it as the forum from where the party can formally split. The developments in Kochi yesterday, in which a parallel district committee was constituted by Mr. Babu Divakaran's supporters, will have its repercussions at the Thiruvananthapuram meeting.

This can lead to initiation of disciplinary action against some important members of the party and that in turn "would unequivocally mean a de facto split in the party''.

Talking to The Hindu , the party leader, Shibu Baby John, MLA, said that there is a strong mood in the party to initiate disciplinary action against those who had violated the constitution of the party. Even if Mr. Divakaran is unable to make it, the scheduled State secretariat meeting will not be postponed. He said that the meeting was earlier fixed for September 10. However, it was postponed to September 14 at the instance of Mr. Divakaran.

Mr. Divakaran requested for the postponement of that meeting on grounds that he wanted to accompany the Chief Minister during the latter's visit to a plantation that day.

Decisions

Mr. Shibu said that crucial decisions have to be taken on some urgent issues facing the party and that these cannot be kept pending. He said that irrespective of whether a few persons were going to attend the meeting or not, decisions on pending issues which are urgent would be taken tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the party leader from Mr. Divakaran's faction, T.M. Prabha, told The Hindu that though notice has been given for the State secretariat meeting, no agenda has been indicated in the notice. "What is that point in attending such a meeting without an agenda,'' he asked. He added that neither he nor the party leader, Shankaradas, would be attending the meeting.

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