Antony unanimously elected CLP leader

By Girish Menon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 15. Mr. A.K. Antony will be sworn in Chief Minister of Kerala on Thursday along with leaders of the seven United Democratic Front constituents. The decks for the swearing-in ceremony were cleared when Mr. Antony was unanimously elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party.

The UDF liaison committee too unanimously elected him its leader. The formal resolution and the letters of various UDF parties are expected to be submitted to the Governor to facilitate his invitation to Mr. Antony.

The selection of the CLP leader proved to be an anticlimax of sorts, belying pre- and post-election speculation that the Congress path towards selecting the Chief Minister would not be smooth. The understanding is that the party high command would nominate a new KPCC president, Mr. K. Muralidharan, Mr. Karunakaran's son, as per the pre-election pact, which led to the factional truce.

Sonia's role

Nevertheless, the process of electing the CLP leader had its share of drama, with the party president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, being authorised to take whatever decision she deemed fit in nominating the CLP leader, who would be the natural choice for chief ministership. Ms. Gandhi, in turn, politely returned the matter to the CLP, giving it full freedom to select its leader.

The CLP met twice to complete the election process. Earlier, the AICC observers - Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mr. Motilal Vora and Mr. Ershad Mirza - held an informal dialogue with the newly-elected party MLAs. At least 10 Karunakaran supporters said that the high command should make the announcement regarding the CLP leader and the PCC president. The CLP met at 4.30 p.m. and unanimously adopted a resolution, moved by Mr. P. Sankaran - a Karunakaran supporter - authorising Ms. Gandhi to nominate the CLP leader.

The AICC observers and senior leaders then spoke to Ms. Gandhi, who, in turn, authorised the CLP to make the choice. The CLP met again at 5.30 p.m. and Mr. Kadavoor Sivadasan - a Karunakaran supporter - proposed Mr. Antony's name, which was seconded by Mr. Aryadan Mohammed, Mr. Vakkam Purushothaman, Mr. G Karthikeyan and Ms. Savithri Lakshmanan.

The CLP passed another resolution, moved by Mr. K. Sankaranarayanan, expressing profound thanks to the people of the State for giving the party a two-third majority and Ms. Gandhi for having led the party from the front.

According to KPCC leaders, Mr. Muralidharan's nomination as PCC president is expected to materialise in a couple of days.

Chennithala unhappy

The other anti-Karunakaran groups, particularly the one led by Mr. Ramesh Chennithala, have expressed dissatisfaction at the decision on the PCC post. Mr. Chennithala and Mr. G. Karthikeyan, leader of another faction, met the AICC observers and Mr. Antony and conveyed their objections to the move.

In the meantime, the other UDF partners met and elected their respective leaders. They are Mr. P.K. Kunhalikutty, (IUML), Mr. K.M. Mani (Kerala Congress-M), Ms. K.R. Gauri (JSS), Mr. Babu Divakaran (RSP), Mr. M.V. Raghavan (CMP), Mr. T.M. Jacob (KC- Jacob), and Mr. R. Balakrishna Pillai (KC-B).

The UDF high-power committee is expected to finalise one more important issue relating to the size of the Cabinet. As for Congress ministers, it appears that Mr. Antony would exercise his prerogative to select his own team.

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