Thiruvananthapuram: Most of the Congress leaders except Mr Oommen Chandy did not hide their anger at the decision of Kerala Congress (M) leader K.M. Mani to leave the UDF on Sunday. While UDF convenor P.P. Thankachan asked the Kerala Congress (M) MLAs to resign the Assembly seats, KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran termed the move as political opportunism. The party high command kept mum indicating that it did not have any problem with the KC(M) leaving the front.
Mr Thankachan said Mr Mani should show political decency by ensuring the resignation of the six legislators of his party, including Mr Mani himself, “as they had won with UDF support.” He also asked the Kerala Congress (M) leaders elected to the local bodies to resign. By parting ways with the UDF, Mr Mani and his party have lost their political credibility, according to Mr Sudheeran who added that the UDF will not collapse if Mani leaves the front. Nobody can destroy the Congress, Mr Sudheeran said.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, however, termed Mr Mani’s decision as unfortunate. Some misunderstanding over the bar bribery case had provoked him to leave the UDF, he said. Though, Mr Mani was acquitted in the two investigation reports given to the Vigilance court in the bar case, he had some misunderstanding on it and that is why he took such a stand, Mr Chandy said.
Congress workers burst crackers front of the headquarters of the Kerala Congress (M) in Kottayam. There was also a minor scuffle in front of Charalkunnu convention centre, the venue of the party camp, between the Youth Congress and Youth Front (M) activists. The Youth Congress activists tried to waylay Mr Mani while he returned from the camp. In many places, Congress workers distributed laddus to celebrate Mr Mani’s way out of the UDF. Meanwhile, a UDF meeting has been convened on Wednesday to discuss the new political situation.
