Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Congress (M) chairman K. M. Mani on Thursday said if the Congress doesn’t need KC (M), his party doesn't need them either.
Speaking to reporters here, he claimed his party had the capacity to stand alone, and it was not the first time it happened.
Talking to reporters here a day after his party dumped an agreement with the Congress and fielded a candidate against its nominee for the president of the Kottayam Panchayat present with the CPM support, he maintained Kottayam DCC had hurt him and his party "very deeply" which forced them to sever ties.
Even though he termed it as a "regional" move, the disapproval in the KC (M) with its district chief E.J. Augusthy resigning showed that it was a calculated one.
“Despite the KC (M) deciding to leave the UDF, we were ready to cooperate with them at the regional level. We had not discussed with the state leadership regarding the Kottayam district panchayat elections," he said.
He said he had no qualms about taking the full responsibility of what had happened, but maintained that it was ‘unfortunate’. “Now it looks like Congress is no longer interested in us and it’s the same case with us too," he said.
He claimed that there was no rift with P. J. Joseph and that he was merely voicing his dissatisfaction but the policies remain the same. He added that his party doesn’t have 'blind hatred' against any party and that it was not at all a sin to ally with LDF.
“Tell me one political party which has not joined hands with them at one point or the other,” he said. Meanwhile, damage controlling measures are on to pacify a peeved Mr Joseph and his group leaders who believe the party’s foundation will get affected, especially in Kottayam and Idukki, if things get aggravated further.
The Congress leadership was taken aback when Janata Dal (United) state secretary Sheikh P. Harris said they invited the danger.
