New Delhi: Congress has said it is open to tie up with the expelled leader K Karunakaran ahead of Kerala Assembly polls.
This is good news for Karunakaran who was recently snubbed by the Left Front.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was reported to be against including Karunakaran in the Congress-led front.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is in Kerala on Sunday, has asked the state unit to take a final decision after coalition partners pushed Karunakaran's case.
Sonia Gandhi said that it is for the Kerala unit of the party to decide on whether to have an electoral tie up with Karunakaran.
"This is a matter to be decided by the Kerala unit. We will come into the picture at a later stage if there is a suggestion or any view that is asked for. This is a view that has to be taken by Kerala unit. AICC Secretary Tom Vadakkan says.
Sonia Gandhi said that the central party leadership will consider the matter only after the local unit makes any suggestion on it.
She also observed that the workers' enthusiasm, displayed during the party rally in Kochi, was a very good sign and hoped that their zeal will be carried forward and be reflected in the election outcome.
While some leaders in the Kerala unit feel that keeping Karunakaran out of the UDF would cut into the Congress votes, the others aver that the Front does not need his support, especially in the light of the fact that the state unit is now working as a more united and cohesive force with the exit of Karunakran and his son K Muraleedharan from the party.
Meanwhile, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Sunday said that it was not averse to taking in Karunakaran and his party Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) in UDF in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Kerala.
AICC media secretary Tom Vadakkan said that winning the elections is on top of the agenda and the party will take a decision keeping in mind the arithmetic and logic, which can bring UDF back to power.
He added that Sonia Gandhi had categorically said that the issue is to be decided by state leadership but AICC will stand by what the state leadership decides, even if it means taking Karunakaran in.
Till late on Saturday it was believed that the congress high command would have the final say on the issue of including Karunakaran, but on Sunday the AICC threw the ball in the state leadership’s court sending across strong signals that central leadership is not against taking in the old war-horse.
This comes after major UDF coalition partners met Sonia Gandhi and expressed their desire to take Karunakaran back.
Senior leaders are meeting at the moment to decide the fate of Karunakaran.
With Agency inputs
Comments
0 comment