Party unlikely to take back 'rebel' Karunakaran

P K SURENDRAN / TNN / Mar 5, 2006, 23:09 IST

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K Karunakaran is unlikely to be taken back to the party fold as Sonia Gandhi said on Sunday that the issue would be decided by the Kerala unit.

Party unlikely to take back 'rebel' Karunakaran

KOCHI: Congress renegade K Karunakaran is unlikely to be taken back to the party fold as AICC president Sonia Gandhi said on Sunday that the issue would be decided by the Kerala unit.
State party sources, while ruling out his re-entry into the party fold, said it was now becoming clear that Karunakaran, who left Congress to form Democratic Indira Congress (DIC), may at best be accommodated as a minor partner of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
Sonia was here for the plenary session of Congress in Kerala which was held after 18 years. During her two-day visit to the state she did not comment on the Karunakaran issue.
Sources said Kerala party leaders like A K Antony, chief minister Oommen Chandy and PCC president Ramesh Chennithala had been asked to take a decision on the issue after the session.

Sources said that the Muslim League - a dominant partner in the UDF -Antony and party in-charge of Kerala affairs Veerappa Moily were not opposed to Karunakaran's re-entry. But Chennithala and Chandy had reservations.
The two argued that even when Karunakaran was in Congress, the party lost all the by-elections and also lost the last Lok Sabha elections in the past five years.
Earlier, Sonia asked party MLAs not to take the opposition Left Front "lightly" and urged them to work together to ensure UDF's return to power.
"Do not take the opposition lightly. You must be aware of the tactics and strategies of the opponents. If you work unitedly, we will surely return to power," she told them.

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