Karunakaran's party splits formally over merger move Left scores in local body polls

Thiruvananthapuram: The split in the Kerala's Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DI C-K) has been formalised with the official group deciding on merger with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Leaders opposed to DIC-K's merger with NCP met in Kochi and decided to hold talks with senior Congress leaders on September 25 on a return to the parent party.

Former DIC-K leader V. Balaram said he was forced to take the decision because of the "autocratic style of functioning of party president" K. Muraleedharan.

Impossible

"Despite all odds, we tried to stand by DIC-K but despite all our efforts it became impossible to carry on when a series of decisions were taken by the party leadership without consulting the cadres," Balaram said.

Another DIC-K leader P. Sankaran also spoke against the "style of functioning" of the leadership of the party founded by K. Karunakaran, making it clear that he was heading for formal re-entry into the Congress party.

Sankaran said DIC-K had made an understanding with the United Democratic Front before the polls for a merger after the polls and that ethics demanded that the understanding was put into practice.

The two groups in DIC-K now appear to be in an irreconcilable position as one group has already declared allegiance to the Congress party and its president Sonia Gandhi, while Karunakaran and his remaining supporters have declared in Thiruvananthapuram they would merge with NCP.

However, it is learnt that there are some misgivings in the Congress about the return of DIC-K members to the Congress fold. Some Congressmen who have moved up the pecking order in the party after the departure of those who joined Karunakaran are understood to be feeling unhappy about the sudden return of these leaders to the Congress.

Thiruvananthapuram In the first polls held in the state since the Left Democratic Front government came to power in Kerala in May, the ruling front has put up a creditable performance.

By-polls were held to four district council divisions, two block council divisions, two municipality wards and 13 village council wards.

Of these, the one that attracted most media attention was the by-poll to the Koothattukulam division of the Ernakulam district panchayat. Here the LDF candidate A.M. Chacko won handsomely with a margin of 6,740 votes defeating the United Democratic Front (UDF) rival Joy Maliekal. Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran candidate Roy Abraham finished third.

The Koothattukulam division by-poll had attracted special attention because it was the differences of opinion over a candidate here that had caused a rift in DIC-K which led to T.M. Jacob and his supporters deciding to leave DIC-K.

In Kottayam district, too, the LDF scored a significant victory. In the Kangazha division in Kottayam district, the LDF's S. Prabhakara Kurup defeated Radhika Menon of the UDF. The defeat means that the UDF has lost its majority in the Kottayam district council.