KOZHIKODE: Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) district general secretary P.K. Chacko and its Kozhikode-1 Assembly Constituency vice-president Siddhan Puthussery have joined the Congress.

Presenting the leaders at a press conference here on Tuesday, District Congress Committee president M. Veerankutty and UDF district chairman P.K.K. Bava said that more and more leaders and workers in the district were returning to the Congress and the UDF.

Mr. Veerankutty said the UDF would score a `surprise victory' in the district in the coming local bodies elections.

Mr. Bava said the new awakening and enthusiasm among the public would be beneficial to the UDF in the coming polls. The UDF constituents are facing the elections as one whole. "Unlike previous elections, all the votes due to the UDF will fall into the UDF kitty. Moreover, the neutral voters are also warming up to the UDF. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's style had endeared him to the voters," they said.

Mr. Bava said that the return of R. Balakrishna Pillai to the UDF showed that it was the beginning of an exodus of the people who had deserted the UDF camp earlier.

Rebutting the LDF allegation that the UDF was damaging the concept of decentralisation of powers, Mr. Bava said that it was the LDF that had turned the concept into something quite contrary to the people's expectations during their regime. They had indulged in corruption at municipalities and panchayats in the name of decentralisation, he alleged. Mr. Veerankutty said that last time it took nearly 11 days for the UDF constituents to settle their seat sharing talks, but this time the exercise was over in two days. He promised that if the UDF returned to power in the local bodies elections, a vigilance inquiry into the alleged corruptions of the LDF will be ordered.

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