Karunakaran group joins UDF seat talks

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 13. The bilateral talks between the Congress and its partners in the UDF received a fillip today with the active participation of the Karunakaran faction.

The KPCC vice-president, Mr. K. Muraleedharan, participated in the dialogues on behalf of Mr. Karunakaran for the first time since the process began. Mr. Karunakaran had been keeping himself off from the dialogues protesting against the short shrift he was being given. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. A.K. Antony, had met Mr. Karunakaran twice of late in an obvious attempt to assuage his feelings.

And his second meeting appears to have paid off, with Mr. Karunakaran relenting and later attending the UDF High Power Committee (HPC) meeting and now the bilateral talks, through his nominee. Mr. Muraleedharan participated in the dialogues as Mr. Karunakaran is keeping indifferent health.

The Congress was represented by Mr. Antony, the UDF convener, Mr. K. Sankaranarayanan, the KPCC president, Mr. Thennala Balakrishna Pillai and Mr. Muraleedharan. The dialogues were held with the representatives of the CMP, the JSS, the RSP(B) and the Kerala Congress(B). According to UDF sources, it had been informally agreed that the CMP, the RSP(B) and the JSS would be allotted three seats each, while the Kerala Congress(B) would be given two seats.

Another highlight of the dialogues today was the participation of Mr. Ganeshan on behalf of his father, Mr. R. Balakrishna Pillai. He was accompanied by another party leader, Mr. Venugopalan Nair. The CMP was represented by Mr. M.V. Raghavan and Mr. C.P. John, the JSS by Mrs. K.R. Gouri and Mr. V.K. Seetharaman and the RSP(B) by Mr. A.V. Thamarakshan.

These parties demanded that they be allotted the seats they contested last time. The CMP indicated that it had been constantly and consistently fighting the CPI(M), which had been identified as the number one enemy of the UDF for the Assembly elections. Unlike other coalition partners, which had the option of shifting camp in the event of being denied seats, the CMP did not have any such intentions.

As for the JSS, the Congress made it clear that it would be difficult to accept its demand for the same number of seats it contested last time in view of the changed context. The RSP(B) wanted the same number of seats it had contested while it was in the LDF.

The second round of bilateral discussions concluded today. On Monday, bilateral discussions focussed on the dispute between the Kerala Congress(M) and the Kerala Congress(Jacob). The HPC is scheduled to meet on Wednesday evening.

Another round of bilateral discussions could be held tomorrow morning. The HPC is expected to ratify the understanding arrived at between the partners at the bilateral dialogues.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : 3 nabbed for trying to sell govt. land
Next     : Case against VS referred to another Division Bench