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Kerala Congress factions form alliance

KOLLAM: The leaders of three Kerala Congress factions met here on Wednesday and decided to form an alliance. The alliance will be called Aikya Kerala Congress (AKC) and it comprises the Kerala Congress(B), Kerala Congress (Jacob) and the Kerala Congress (Secular).

A meeting for the purpose held at the Government Guesthouse here in the afternoon was attended by KC(B) leader R. Balakrishna Pillai, Kerala Congress (Secular) leader P.C. George and Kerala Congress (Jacob) leaders T.M. Jacob and Johnny Nellur.

The leaders told mediapersons that no decision on a merger was taken. Mr. Pillai said that during elections, the AKC would stand united by having a common candidate.

He said that the targets laid by the Kerala Congress during its constitution, especially with regard to the rights of farmers, had not been achieved.

Yet, it was with the formation of the Kerala Congress that regional parties got due recognition in Kerala politics. But compared to the other regional parties, the Kerala Congress could not make much gains. This was because factionalism always gripped the party.

Mr. Pillai said that the AKC was the first step towards a stronger alliance of the Kerala Congress factions.

Mr. George said that alliance talks were held with Kerala Congress(M) leader K.M. Mani four times and another round of talks would be held on November 14. He was not averse to having similar talks with Kerala Congress(J) leader P.J. Joseph. But Mr. Joseph should be prepared to quit the Left Democratic Front.

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