KOZHIKODE: The man who took the lead in ousting the then chief minister K. Karunakaran from power following the ISRO spy case in 1995 was M.M. Ha-ssan and not A.K. Antony as commonly believed. This was revealed by Mr Hassan himself who expressed his regrets over the action and said, “We should have allowed Karunakaran to complete his term.” “Antony had intervened against the move to remove Karun-akaran as he felt that it would damage the Congress prospects in the state,” the KPCC president told a ‘Karunakaran commemoration’ function organised by the District Congress Committee here on Saturday.
“Mr Antony urged other leaders to limit the action by demanding a change in the style of functioning of the ‘leader’ or by giving an open rebuke. He had contacted me and Mr Oommen Chandy to exercise restraint,” Mr Hassan revealed. “Looking back, I feel that what we did against the leader was wrong. We should have allowed him to complete his term,” he said. Mr Hassan also said that Mr Antony kept silent whenever there were reports that he (Antony) was instrumental in removing Karunakaran.
It was on the direction of the then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao that Mr Antony returned to state politics after resigning as Union minister and contested the election. Though reluctant, he took over as chief minister as directed by the national leadership, he pointed out. It may be recalled that Mr Oommen Chandy was one of the frontline ‘A’ group leaders and also finance minister in the then Karunakaran ministry. He had resigned after an intense infighting with Karunakaran in 1994. Mr Hassan was also a leading light of the 'A' group and a legislator then.
