The Hindu : Kerala News : Congress to thwart bid to put it in the dock

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 13, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Congress to thwart bid to put it in the dock

Girish Menon

Allies may blame infighting for poll debacle at UDF meet

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress leadership will go all out to deflect the attempts made by its coalition partners to blame it for the miserable defeat in the byelections in Koothuparamba and Azhikode Assembly constituencies at the United Democratic Front (UDF) liaison committee meeting on Monday.

The meeting is expected to conduct a post-mortem of the defeat that saw the UDF conceding a massive electoral margin to CPI(M) candidates. Even though the UDF had accepted defeat much before electioneering began, it did not bargain for such a huge electoral margin. The UDF partners, including Indian Union Muslim League, are likely inclined to blame the problems in the Congress for the poll debacle, particularly the margin of defeat. The meeting will also evaluate the impact of K. Karunakaran's National Congress(Indira) on the election results.

Although the Congress party is not ready to accept NC(I)'s role in the electoral defeat, it would have to answer why large sections, particularly the Muslim community which had been traditionally voting for the UDF, shifted its preference to CPI(M), a party which had a history of bitter confrontation with it.

One-year action plan

Another important item on the agenda is the Chandy Government's one-year action plan. The meeting is expected to give political clearance to the development projects proposed by the Government in an election year. The attempt obviously is to dismiss the byelection results as something expected, given the relative strength of the CPI(M) in the two constituencies. The focus will be on retrieving its popular base by coming up with valid development projects and retaining its support among various social groups.

The UDF meeting is likely to take a decision on the Government's proposal to sanction more schools in the aided and unaided sectors. Another important issue that awaits UDF clearance is the ouster of chairmen and director board members belonging to Kerala Congress(B), Kerala Congress (Jacob) and NC(I). The previous meeting had decided to ask these leaders to vacate their posts, but no further action was taken. The UDF leaders will discuss the strategy to implement this decision.

UDF convener P.P. Thankachan had made it clear that the coalition expected these leaders to vacate their posts voluntarily. If they failed to do so, the respective departments would be asked to remove them. But this process could be taken up only after the KPCC election was over and a new chief would take over, sources said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section

CPI(M) secretariat reconstituted

Government move for action against Upendra Verma triggers criticism

Sudheeran not to attend all-party meet on sand-mining

Tamil Nadu move to scrap entrance sparks debate

Congress to thwart bid to put it in the dock

Murali hints at allying with LDF for local body polls

Leader of Opposition flays Modi

`Achuthanandan most prominent leader'

CPI(M) leader found dead

Pujas at Sabarimala temple

Briefly