Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala has said the Congress party has suffered whenever it allowed divisive forces to cross the limit.
Speaking at a function hosted here on Saturday to commemorate the death anniversary of the former KPCC president and Gandhian C.K. Govindan Nair here, Mr. Chennithala said he supported C.K. Govindan Nair’s view that the party should draw a ‘lakshman rekha’ to keep forces which promoted division on the basis of caste and religion at bay.
Mr. Govindan Nair was known to be a strong votary against the Congress party having any alliance with the Indian Union Muslim League.
Mr. Nair, during his tenure as the KPCC president, had even annulled the party’s tie-up with the IUML in a local body election in Kozhikode, compelling the then District Congress Committee chief to resign.
Reacting to Mr. Chennithala’s comments, senior IUML leaders said they would discuss the import of the KPCC president’s words on Sunday. Shortly after the function, Mr. Chennithala issued a statement saying he was merely quoting the words of C.K. Govindan Nair and did not mean this as a criticism against the IUML, an integral part of the UDF government.
