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Karunakaran and T.M. Jacob get closer

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Congress (Jacob) leader, T. M. Jacob, on Tuesday took his party closer to the National Congress (I) when he met the veteran Congress leader K. Karunakaran at his residence.

The two leaders, along with the NC (I) president, K. Muraleedharan, discussed the pros and cons of their respective political strategies, including the issue of merging the Kerala Congress (Jacob) with the NC (I).

Mr. Jacob told The Hindu that there would not be any difficulty in taking an appropriate decision either way, be it a merger or as a separate entity. He said that the final decision would be taken after detailed discussions about the political advantages for both the parties since a lot more political developments were in store in the coming days. "We are conscious about the timing," Mr. Jacob said.

"I am mentally inclined towards Mr. Karunakaran. It has been so for the last seven Assembly terms when we were together in the UDF. Our common objective is the chief Minister, Oommen Chandy," he said.

Mr. Jacob said that he had observed all political procedures before announcing his decision to quit the UDF. His party had first decided to expose Mr. Chandy. He had written to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, besides holding discussions with the Congress Working Committee member A. K. Antony on several occasions. Mr. Antony had advised him to be patient and his party had waited for four months. However, the Chief Minister and his caucus created a situation that forced the Kerala Congress (Jacob) out of the ruling coalition. "We took a final decision to quit the front only after the caucus decided not to invite us for the UDF liaison committee meeting," he said.

The National Congress (I) and the Kerala Congress (Jacob) decided to move jointly in the Koothuparamba and Azheekode byelections, with the common objective being the defeat of the Chief Minister and his brand of politics with its preponderance towards corruption and nepotism. He said that the UDF was no more in existence and the meeting convened by the Chief Minister on Wednesday could not be called that of the UDF. Mr. Karunakaran, Mr. Balakrishna Pillai and he were not in it. He said that his party had not opened discussions with the CPI (M) leadership. "Mr. Karunakaran's party will emerge as the real Congress after the local bodies elections," he said.

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