The Hindu : Front Page : It is unfair to put blame on Karunakaran alone: Antony

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Wednesday, Sep 21, 2005

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It is unfair to put blame on Karunakaran alone: Antony

Special Correspondent

HIS VERSION: The Congress leader A.K. Antony at a meet-the-press programme in Ernakulam on Tuesday. Photo: Vipinchandran

KOCHI: Even as a controversy over responsibility for the Emergency excesses is raging in the State and the civic election campaigns echo it, the Congress leader A.K. Antony has once again come to the defence of his political foe and Democratic Indira Congress (K) leader K. Karunakaran.

At a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr. Antony said it would be unfair to put all the blame for the Emergency excesses on Mr. Karunakaran, who was the Home Minister in the C. Achutha Menon Government. Mr. Antony also said it would be a `disgrace' to the memory of Achutha Menon to claim that he was unaware of the excesses.

He said all those who exercised power during Emergency, including leaders of the parties that were part of the Government, should own responsibility for the abuse of power, not just Mr. Karunakaran. "These parties and their leaders had enjoyed the fruits of Emergency," he said.

"The CPI, RSP, Kerala Congress (Joseph) and the Congress (S) are responsible too; they had shared Government power and had benefited from the electoral victory just after Emergency," he said. As the president of the KPCC at the time, he himself (Mr. Antony) was responsible too.

Mr. Antony termed the tie-up between Mr. Karunakaran's party and the CPI(M) as an `unholy alliance' and said it would not last long. "The CPI(M) will dump Mr. Karunakaran after the panchayat elections." The alliance was a `historical blunder' for Mr. Karunakaran. It was unbelievable that a seasoned politician like Mr. Karunakaran failed to see through the CPI(M)'s machinations, he added. Mr. Antony claimed it was the stated policy of the Congress that there would be no electoral understanding of any kind with the BJP.

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