The Hindu : Kerala News : Murali lashes out at Karunakaran

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
ePaper

Kerala

Kerala

Murali lashes out at Karunakaran

Special Correspondent

Says Karunakaran failed to justify his stance

Thiruvananthapuram: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) State president K. Muraleedharan has lashed out at his father and veteran leader K. Karunakaran, terming his decision to return to the Congress “as an act of betrayal leaving his supporters in the mid-seas.”

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Muraleedharan, who did not mince words while criticising Mr. Karunakaran’s decision, made it clear that he would remain in the NCP and re-establish his credibility. He said that Mr. Karunakaran had failed to justify his stance after having taken his supporters out of the Congress three years ago.

“There is no point in talking about a tradition of 75 years because there has been no change in the circumstances that led to the split and the formation of the DIC(K) and later the merger with the NCP. There has been no change in the attitude of the Congress as well,” he said.

Entry uncertain

He had asked Mr. Karunakaran these questions but failed to elicit a reply. Mr. Karunakaran’s decision did not reflect the sentiments of a majority of his supporters. The date of the former NCP leader Cyriac John’s admission into the Congress had been finalised, but Mr. Karunakaran’s was still uncertain, he said. He said he was not perturbed by the departure of “senior leaders” because he continued to have the support of those who were prepared to undergo any sacrifice.

As far as he was concerned, he continued to have all love and respect to his father, but he would no longer be his political associate. “His departure from the party would indeed be a big loss.” In reply to a question whether he felt that some other forces had influenced Mr. Karunakaran to return to the parent party, Mr. Muraleedharan said he did not want to use any harsh words against his father because society looked down upon such acts and that this would be the last time he would say anything against Mr. Karunakaran, he said.

“I owe my political career to Mr. Karunakaran. I will never forget his contribution towards my political growth. Being Mr. Karunakaran’s son has been a plus point,” he said. For him, it was a question of retaining his political credibility. He had to suffer loss of credibility for changing positions frequently.

‘No leaving NCP’

There was no question of sustaining any further loss on this count. He and his supporters would stay put in the NCP, willing to accept the gains and losses. At one point of time, he was rated highly as KPCC president. He did not hesitate to stand by Mr. Karunakaran during the torrid factional politics in the Congress.

The Congress party has left no stone unturned to destroy the DIC(K) and later the NCP. There was also an attempt by certain quarters to create confusion by stating that NCP president Sharad Pawar himself would join the Congress.

He said the circumstances that led to the formation of NCP too had not chang ed. Besides, the Congress leadership has been forced to ally with the NCP in Gujarat, while in Maharashtra it cann ot rule without his party’s support.

Mr. Muraleedharan said the NCP State executive had asked the national leadership to remove four general secretaries — N. Venugopal, M.V. Mani, M.T. Padma, and Josy Sebastian — from their posts. Two other office-bearers, Kodoth Govindan Nair and Karunakaran Pillai, had submitted their resignations.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section