The Hindu : Front Page : Chennithala holds talks with Kanthapuram

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Monday, Feb 13, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Chennithala holds talks with Kanthapuram

Staff Reporter

Says party will take all communities into confidence

Kozhikode: As part of garnering support of communities, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala held parleys with Samasta Kerala Jemyathul Ulama general secretary Kanthapuram Aboobacker Musaliyar here on Sunday.

The one-hour meeting between the leader of the top Sunni faction and Mr. Chennithala assumes significance in the context of Oommen Chandy Government's recent decisions on Narendran Commission report on reservation in appointments to Government services.

The Kanthapuram faction had extended support to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the last Lok Sabha elections.

"Our topic of discussion was on general and political issues. However, I am unable to divulge the details of our meeting. The Congress party is trying to take all communities into confidence," Mr. Chennithala told The Hindu .

Mr. Chennithala, who has been camping in Kozhikode for two days, is likely to meet other senior leaders of the Muslim community as well. Jamaat-e-Islami is the only Muslim organisation opposing the decisions on the commission report. "I have no plans to meet any of its leaders," Mr. Chennithala said.

In the evening, he spoke at a meeting discussing the stand of the Congress and the `bold' step it had taken to implement the report.

At a press conference in the morning, he alleged that the CPI(M)'s stance in this regard was a betrayal of backward communities.

Following media reports that the CPI(M) Polit Bureau had decided not the include Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) in the LDF, Mr. Chennithala invited workers of the fledgling party to return to the Congress. "These workers will be given due respect once they returned. They will be accommodated in the party and given equal opportunities with others," he said.

He said it was up to the senior leader K. Karunakaran and his son, K. Muraleedharan, to decide whether to return to the Congress. "Those willing to accept the leadership of Ms. Sonia Gandhi are welcome to the party fold," he said.

To a query, Mr. Chennithala said no discussion had been held on accommodating Mr. Karunakaran's party as a separate entity within the UDF.

State conference

He said Ms. Gandhi would participate in a State conference of the party in Kochi from March 3 to 7.

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