Southern States - Kerala   

Karunakaran group for exchange of posts

By K.P.M. Basheer

KOCHI NOV. 16. The Karunakaran faction has proposed an exchange of positions between the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, and the KPCC president, K. Muraleedharan, to resolve the infighting in the Congress.

The `I' faction had sent feelers to this effect to the party high command, a senior faction leader told The Hindu. The KPCC president could either be Mr. Antony or someone nominated by him, the leader said.

He noted that the party high command, as a compromise to check rivalry between Mr. Antony and Mr. Karunakaran, had made Mr. Antony Chief Minister and Mr. Muraleedharan KPCC chief.

This pattern had been a tradition with the party for several years — in the selection of functionaries of the party and its affiliate organisations and in the selection of candidates in the elections.

Also, there had been several instances of chairmanships and presidencies of municipalities and panchayats rotating mid-term between the two factions, he said.

"Now that Mr. Antony has ruled the State for two-and-a-half years, why cannot he step down so that Mr. Muraleedharan can rule for the next two-and-a-half years," the leader asked.

He said that any plan to replace Mr. Antony by the UDF convener, Oommen Chandy, was not acceptable to the faction.

At a news conference here on Sunday, the KPCC general secretary and key spokesperson for the Karunakaran faction, N. Venugopal, too dropped hints on this compromise formula.

He pointed out that Mr. Muraleedharan had been leading the party well for the past two-and-a-half years and that there was no harm in Mr. Muraleedharan becoming the Chief Minister.

Mr. Venugopal said that it had been a tradition with the party to appoint the KPCC president and the Chief Minister alternately from the two factions.

"The Chief Ministership is now our faction's legitimate right,'' he said.

Mr. Venugopal added that Mr. Karunakaran would decide the faction's candidate for the post of Chief Minister.

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