Climbdown by Karunakaran

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, APRIL 5. After the sabre rattling came the climbdown. Mr. K. Karunakaran today made a dramatic climbdown after yesterday's diatribe against the Congress high command. In sharp contrast to the combative posture adopted yesterday, he toned down his rhetoric and not only expressed full faith in the Congress president but also promised to work for the defeat of the Left Front in Kerala.

Under pressure from his own supporters and senior leaders of the party, Mr. Karunakaran sought to make amends for yesterday's outburst and clarified that he had said nothing against Mrs. Gandhi . ``I can never say anything bad about any member of that family, I have great affection for the Nehru family and cannot even think of questioning Mrs. Sonia Gandhi,'' he told newspersons at his residence this afternoon.

Though Mr. Karunakaran made a conscious effort to make amends as far as the Congress president was concerned, he stuck to his guns on Mr. A.K. Antony and reiterated all that he had said about him yesterday. He blamed Mr. Antony for denying ticket to his supporters and of trying to finish him off politically. ``My district presidents were denied tickets, an effort has been made to finish me,'' he said.

In contrast to the placatory tone he adopted towards the high command, Mr. Karunakaran continued with his aggressive posture towards his political opponents. He said he was still quite cut up with the distribution of seats and the manner in which Mr. Antony and his supporters had cornered a majority of the seats. He promised to continue to fight for the rights of his supporters and all those who stood by Indira Gandhi when she went to jail in 1978.

Despite the potshots that he took at his political opponents, Mr. Karunakaran took pains to clarify that though he would decide his strategy after consulting his supporters in Kerala he would do nothing to harm the interests of the UDF. ``I will never do anything that contributes in any way to bring back the LDF to power,'' he said.

Rejecting suggestions that the bad blood in the party would affect its chances in the coming polls, he said there was nothing extraordinary in this. `` Every party has internal problems but all of us will unitedly work to win the elections.'' He also sought to dispel the impression that his anger was prompted by the denial of ticket to his daughter Ms. Padmaja. ``She was never the issue, I will never object if she is not given a ticket, but will continue to defend my supporters,'' he said.

The change in Mr. Karunakaran's attitude appears to have been prompted by pressure from his supporters and even members of his family to not make the Padmaja case a prestige issue. According to sources close to him, the veteran leader was advised by some of his close supporters against carrying the Padmaja issue beyond a point. The party leadership also did its bid to mollify him.

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