The Hindu : Front Page : DIC(K) aims at `welfare coalition'

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Friday, Sep 23, 2005

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DIC(K) aims at `welfare coalition'

Special Correspondent

Karunakaran lays out road map for post-election political platform

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) leader K. Karunakaran on Thursday laid out the road map for the post-election political moves by stating that his party would uphold its secular democratic credentials and would cooperate with all sections that prescribe to this platform.

Participating in the "Janahitham 2005 election programme organised by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists' here, Mr. Karunakaran said the local bodies elections were important because the results would demarcate the positions of each party in the run-up to the Assembly elections. "We are not looking for victory in terms of numbers or official positions in the local bodies. The question is whether the people would accept our political positions. Our experiences thus far give us confidence that the people are with us," he said.

In reply to a question, he said the local-level tie-up with the LDF was only the beginning. The next move would be made soon. The elections would reveal the political positions of each party. It would not be a hotchpotch arrangement. His aim, he said, was to induct a new perspective to coalition politics caught between the LDF and the UDF. "It would be a welfare coalition," he remarked. He had been campaigning for the last 13 days throughout the Sate and he had learnt that the people shared his party's perceptions. Mr. Karunakaran asserted that large number of youngsters, particularly from the Muslim community, had joined his party.

Asked whether his position in the LDF had been confirmed, Mr. Karunakaran indicated that his party would forge ties with any one subscribing to its programmes and policy.

The veteran leader took care to lay out his political line terming them as basic positions, but side-stepped questions on the current election debating the point relating to Emergency excesses.

He said his party would not have any truck with communal parties whatsoever. He had always upheld minority rights as enshrined in the Constitution throughout his long political career.

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