The Hindu : Kerala News : Karunakaran bides his time, but Murali in a hurry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Karunakaran bides his time, but Murali in a hurry

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 12. The veteran Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, would take his own time in formally announcing the formation of a new party, but his son, K. Muraleedharan, appears to be in a hurry to effect the split in the Congress at the earliest.

While Mr. Karunakaran made it clear at a press conference today that he would not take a hasty decision and would rather go through the elaborate process of consulting his supporters, Mr. Muraleedharan preferred to go ahead with the task of deciding on a suitable name for the party and designing the flag for it, besides working out the formation of parallel committees in three remaining districts that would finally metamorphose as the formal apparatus when the new party is formed.

Mr. Karunakaran and Mr. Muraleedharan announced separately that a convention of party supporters would be convened on April 30 at Thrissur to deliberate the pros and cons of forming a new party.

The decision on the new party would be taken only at the end of the convention.

Another issue Mr. Karunakaran would have to reckon with sooner or later would be his daughter, Padmaja Venugopal's stand on quitting the party and her status in the new setup if she does decide to toe her father's line.

Asked about this, Mr. Muraleedharan told mediapersons that Mr. Karunakaran was the leader of the faction and only those willing to obey him would find a place.

The April 30 convention would be attended by five workers each from 1,100 "mandalams" across the State. The convention, Mr. Karunakaran said, would weigh the pros and cons of the formation of a new party before a firm decision was announced.

Mr. Karunakaran held a meeting of his faction after the press meet, followed by a one-to-one sitting with the 14 MLAs supporting him.

Mr. Muraleedharan also held a meeting of the presidents of his parallel committees that go by the name of coordination committees to finalise the name for the new party and the design for the party flag.

Mr. K. P. Kunhikannan and Kodoth Govindan Nair, two trusted lieutenants, have been entrusted with the job of ascertaining the legal aspects, including the status of such a party in the Election Commission's record.

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