The Hindu : Kerala News : Karunakaran to go ahead with rally

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Karunakaran to go ahead with rally

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 8. The senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, this morning said that he decided to go ahead with the rally, even though several of his district-level leaders have dissociated themselves with the move fearing disciplinary action.

The Kozhikode DCC president, V. K. Veerankutty, gave a jolt to Mr. Karunakaran and his son Mr. Muraleedharan when he announced that he was dissociating himself from organising the rally.

Addressing mediapersons from his hospital bed in Kozhikode, Mr. Veerankutty said it was difficult for him to organise the rally in the light of the KPCC and the AICC's directive against it.

He said that even though both of them were revered leaders as far as he was concerned, it was difficult for him as the head of the DCC to disobey the directive of a higher body.

In fact, Mr. Veerankutty's stand virtually upset the Karunakaran faction's attempt to give the entire exercise an official colour on the basis of the AICC general secretary, Ahmed Patel, that no action would be taken if the DCC and the KPCC were to approve the rally. Mr. Muraleedharan met Mr. Veerankutty in the morning to request him to send the DCC's request, but the latter refused to do so.

The KPCC president, Thennala Balakrishnan told The Hindu that the Pradesh committee had not received any request from the DCC.

The AICC had asked the Karunakaran faction to submit the DCC and the KPCC approval by 6 p.m. this evening.

However the approval could not be sent owing to Mr. Veerankutty's stand.

Mr. Karunakaran exuded confidence when he met mediapersons in the morning, asserting that the rally would be held irrespective of whatever his detractors might do or say to sabotage it.

MLAs exempted

Mr. Karunakaran has exempted MLAs supporting him from attending the rally, but Mr. M. P. Gangadharan, MLA in the Karunakaran faction, said that the legislators supporting Mr. Karunakaran would make it to the venue after performing their duties in the Assembly.

Mr. Karunakaran made it clear that the rally was not against the party high command.

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