The Hindu : Karunakaran loyalists meet Patel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 14, 2003

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National

Karunakaran loyalists meet Patel

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 13. Within hours of the senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, stating that the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, should have resigned if he felt pressured by minorities, three of his loyalists met the AICC general secretary-in charge of Kerala, Ahmed Patel, here late last night purportedly to articulate the same formulation to the party's central leadership.

Whether they sought a leadership change is not clear, but the three MLAs — P.P. George, E.M. Augusthy and Adoor Prakash — submitted a memorandum to Mr. Patel in which they aired the grievances of the Karunakaran faction.

Reluctant to divulge details about what transpired, all that the three MLAs told journalists today was that they had come to Delhi as directed by Mr.

Karunakaran, and were trying to get an appointment with the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi.

With the three planning to camp in Delhi for a couple of days, another meeting with Mr. Patel is not being ruled out. For his part, Mr. Patel is learnt to have spoken to Mr. Antony today to take stock of the political balance in the State following the Chief Minister's statement vis-à-vis minorities in Kerala. He is also said to have told the trio that he was in touch with all constituents of the ruling coalition.

Given that the issue is likely to be raised in the Assembly on Monday, the central leadership appears to be banking on Mr. Antony to defuse the situation with a statement in the House. Meanwhile, the IUML Minister in the UDF Cabinet, P.K. Kunhalikutty, reached the Capital today in connection with a court case, and might meet Mr. Patel.

Even as Mr. Antony's reported remarks on the pressure tactics of minorities is attracting criticism from all quarters, a damage control exercise has begun in right earnest with his supporters in the Capital arguing that his statement had been quoted out of context. His spin-doctors say that Mr. Antony's contention was that since the minorities were better organised in Kerala compared to those in the North, they had more bargaining power.

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