Kerala Marxist leader warms up to Congress-I group's claim

Attempts by the K. Karunakaran-led 'I' group in the Congress to topple the A.K. Antony government are unlikely to materialise until the end of Ramadan, political observers here feel.

The observation is based on the fact that the veteran leader could not spring any more surprises after the 'I' group claimed the support of 34 MLAs during a meeting on Friday.

However, the Opposition has warmed up to the announcement by Karuna-karan that he has the support of 34 MLAs.

Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan said yesterday that there was no reason to "disbelieve" the claim of Karunakaran. "Why should we disbelieve him when he says he has the support of 34 UDF MLAs? Would he on his part make such a claim if it was untrue?" asked Achu-thanandan.

Achuthanandan also dumped the chief minister's reported comment that if the government was toppled, the new government would be remote controlled by the AKG Centre, the headquarters of the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM). Achu-thanandan said such a comment only exposed Antony's thinking about the likelihood of a change of government.

Meanwhile, Karunakaran met Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader and industry minister P.K. Kunhalikutty for a 45-minute meeting yesterday in an apparent effort to explore the likelihood of support from the IUML for his efforts to form a new government. Karunakaran, who later spoke at a Kerala Muslim Jamaat function, tried to win the hearts of Muslims by stating that "some people were voicing whatever they felt about the religious minorities", clearly targeting the chief minister who had made a controversial statement that religious minorities in Kerala were garnering more benefits than what they deserved.

With only 10 more days to go for the December 1 deadline that the Cong-ress high command has given itself to sort out the problems in the Kerala unit, the `I' group would be hard pressed to work out a decisive move on its own before the deadline. Despite claiming to have 34 MLAs on its side, the group has so far not been convincing enough about its ability to topple the government.