Southern States - Kerala

NCP decides to stay put in LDF camp

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM April 18. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today decided to dig its feet in the LDF by staking claim to its secular political credentials, besides highlighting the fact that it carried along with it a majority of its office-bearers, including the two MLAs who won on the LDF ticket.

An NCP meeting, convened by the party all-India general secretary, T P Peethambaran Master, also did not forget to highlight the NCP strongman, Sharad Pawar's association with the People's Front, promoted by the CPI(M). Talking to The Hindu, the senior NCP leader, A C Shanmughadas, highlighted the invitation extended to Mr Pawar by the CPI(M) leader, Somanath Chatterjee, to attend the People's Front meeting.

Today's meeting was attended by Cyriac John, NCP State vice-president, the State secretaries, A K Saseendran, Uzhavoor Vijayan, Mammen Iype, Mani C Kappan, and the two MLAs, V C Kabeer and A C Shanmughadas. The meeting was presided over by Peethambaran Master. Out of the 22 executive members, only two did not attend, while another leader, P T Kunhumohammed, had informed the meeting his inability to attend as he was abroad.

Mr Shanmughadas said the question of seeking a berth in the LDF did not arise because the NCP was already a part of the coalition. It had two MLAs who had won on the LDF ticket, besides carrying a majority of the office-bearers. Moreover, the two LDF district conveners from the party--Kozhikode and Malappuram-- were with the NCP, he added.

According to the NCP's assessment, Mr Kadannappally Ramachandran started having problems over the reconstitution of the Nationalist Youth Congress. His decision to split the party by raising the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTA) issue was totally baseless. The fact that the NCP had decided to support the POTO Bill was only an abrasion as the party's working committee had decided six months ago to give the State units the freedom to take their own positions. As per this decision, the NCP Kerala unit had decided to oppose POTA.

Mr Shanmughadas pointed out that the course of political development in the State over the decades had been vastly different when compared to the national scene. Ever since the Guwahati Conference of April 30, 1978, which decided to fight against communal and authoritarian forces, his party had hitched his wagon to the LDF, taking progressive positions on these issues. ``It is only in Kerala that the Congress and the CPI(M) have been in power in an alliance,''he said recalling the 1980 Ministry.

Moreover, Mr Pawar has been associating with the People's Front to revive what could be called a third non-communal force. At the national level, the NCP holds the view that attempts should be made to draw out the secular forces in the NDA alliance while forming the third front. Another point which Mr Shanmughadas stresses on was the party's resolution at its national conference held on September 30, 2001, which demanded the reconstruction of the Babri Masjid at the same site where it was demolished, a position, which he said, even the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had not taken.

The positions taken by the NCP is likely to go down well with the LDF, particularly the CPI(M), which is looking for more supporters to prop up its People's Front.

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