The Hindu : Kerala News : Congress dilemma delays convening of UDF meet

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Congress dilemma delays convening of UDF meet

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 11 . The Congress is in a dilemma over whether it should invite the Kerala Congress(B), the Kerala Congress(Jacob) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (Bolshevik) to the proposed United Democratic Front (UDF) liaison committee meeting.

The party leaders were unable to take a decision on this issue because of the Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy's pre-occupation with administrative matters, thus delaying the convening of the UDF Liaison Committee meeting. The meeting cannot be convened without deciding on whether the leaders of these parties should be invited or not.

UDF constituents

In the case of the RSP(B), the issue revolves around the schism in the party and the Congress leaders feel that the party representative need not be invited to the meeting. K.P. Sankaradas and the Labour Minister, Babu Divakaran, represented the party in the UDF meetings.

T.M. Jacob and R. Balakrishna Pillai had been demanding the convening of the UDF in the backdrop of their exclusion from the Chandy Cabinet. They have been maintaining that they are still part of the UDF and have been critical of the Government's functioning. The Congress, with the tacit approval of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress(M), would have to decide whether to show the door to the two parties.

Sort out tiff

The UDF would have to meet soon to sort out the tiff between the Congress leader, V. M. Sudheeran, and the IUML Minister, P.K. Kunhalikutty, over the sand-mining issue. The verbal duel between the two is now threatening to disrupt relations between the two majors in the UDF.

The IUML leaders have called for a discussion on this issue in the UDF.

Posts to fill

The Congress leaders would have to work out a formula for filling up three posts each in the Cochin and Travancore Devaswom Boards, chairmanships in three corporations and 200 directors' posts in various corporations and boards.

In addition, the Congress would have to work out another formula for filling up nine vacant posts in the Public Service Commission.

The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, and the UDF convener, P.P. Thankachan, have decided to discuss and decide these issues.

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