Congress disciplinary panel formed in Kerala

The Congress party here announced it had set up a disciplinary committee to oversee the conduct of the party members, close on the heels of veteran party leader K. Karunakaran issuing a public statement that no one need to make threats by dangling the sword of discipline.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Muraleedharan announced here yesterday that the disciplinary committee had been set up with the approval of the party high command.

The seven-member committee is headed by former KPCC president C.V. Padmarajan, and one of the first issues that will come to the committee will be the issue of appropriate action against party MLA Shobhana George, who was arrested in connection with a forged police intelligence document that sought to implicate Tourism Minister K.V. Thomas in a hawala deal.

Leaders in the party were tight-lipped about party developments following the establishment of the disciplinary committee, but observers feel that the committee alone will not be able to bridle the increasing incidents of Congressmen slandering each other.

Muraleedharan said at the KPCC executive committee meeting yesterday that the party's image had improved following the Navachetana Yatra which he led from north to south Kerala, and added that the recent incidents of open criticism of each other by Congress party party workers had a negative impact.

The most glaring of these was that of Shobhana criticising Chief Minister A.K. Antony, especially when she suggested that he give up the home department or even step down as chief minister. Shobhana has since apologised, but has been slapped with a show cause notice on disciplinary grounds.

Muraleedharan yesterday read out her reply to the notice. Her case will also be taken up by the newly-formed disciplinary committee.

The Crime Branch, meanwhile, have not succeeded in tracing journalist Jayachandran, another accused in the document forgery case. The Crime Branch is hoping that the jigsaw pieces in the case will fall together once Jayachandran is interrogated.

Meanwhile, Nawab Rajendran, who has been waging a relentless legal battle against corruption and other justices, says that Karunakaran had trapped Shobhana, the party MLA from Chengannur, in forgery case.

He charges that Karunakaran planned a trap to fix Shobhana who was a hurdle in the political future of his only daughter Padmaja Venugopal.

The fake intelligence report was jointly fabricated by Karunakaran, Thomas and Padmaja. By making Shobhana a sacrificial goat Karunakaran was winning the political game, according to Nawab.

It was with the approval of the state government that the Crime Branch submitted the case in the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court and arrested Shobhana. It was not true to say that Karunakaran did not know this.

He was also deliberately refusing to react to the case on the ground that it was under the consideration of the court, said Nawab.