A leadership meet of Kerala’s Congress-led ruling UDF on Thursday observed that the political situation in the State was not favourable to it even as it totally neglected the corruption charges leveled the other day by sacked Government Chief Whip PC George of the Kerala Congress (M) against his party chairman and the tainted Finance Minister, KM Mani.
According to sources, Industries Minister PK Kunhalikutty of the Muslim league, second biggest UDF constituent, said in the meeting held at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram that the internal problems in the front were powerful enough to shake its foundations while PCC vice-president VD Satheesan said the UDF need not keep big poll hopes in the present situation.
The meeting observed that the situation was favourable to the UDF in the first one-and-a-half years of the Government headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy but the image of the Government had got tarnished due to several controversies after that. It decided to take measures to refurbish the images of the front and Government.
Referring to the problems created for the Government by PC George with his attacks against his own party leader Mani and his removal as Chief Whip, Kunhalikutty said that the fireworks were already over and what remained was the dust it had stirred up, adding that the foundations of the front itself could tremble if this dust did not settle soon.
Mani, who had been in the focus of the controversies in the State since last October, said that even the dust could cause burns, indicating that George was still creating problems for the front with his controversial statements. The UDF meeting approved the KC(M)’s selection of Thomas Unnyadan MlA as the man to replace George as Chief Whip.
UDF convener PP Thankachan told newsmen that the meeting did not even consider the letter PC George had the other day written to Chief Minister Chandy leveling several serious allegations against Mani and his son Jose K Mani MP. “We felt that there was nothing new in that letter and that it was not worth a discussion,” he said.
In the letter, George had alleged that the Finance Minister, already facing a Vigilance case for allegedly taking Rs1 crore as bribe from bar owners, was in the habit of leaking out Budget proposals to interested business sectors for money. He also said that Mani had been cheating the cash-crop farmers who were the backbone of the Kerala Congress (M).