The Hindu : Kerala News : Kodoth sees plot to stall his re-entry into party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 11, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Kodoth sees plot to stall his re-entry into party

By K.P. Pushparaj

KASARAGOD, APRIL 10. Kodoth Govindan Nair, who was suspended from the Congress a year ago for contesting the Rajya Sabha elections as a Congress rebel, today blamed a prominent Congress leader from the State for the Congress high command deferring the decision to withdraw his suspension.

"The Congress leader, Pranab Mukerjee, had termed the agreement arrived at with the AICC (All India Congress Committee) for ceasefire in the State unit of the party and inclusion of K. Muraleedharan in the Cabinet as a gentleman's agreement. But a Congress leader who had held negotiations with the AICC wanted to keep me out of the party for some more time for the simple reason that I might stake claim to the party ticket in the coming Lok Sabha elections," Mr. Govindan Nair told The Hindu here today.

"In fact, it was agreed by the AICC-appointed three-member committee comprising Mr. Mukerjee, R.K. Dhawan and Ahmed Patel that my suspension would be withdrawn prior to the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Muraleedharan as Minister in the Cabinet," he said.

Mr. Govindan Nair was president of the Kasaragod District Congress Committee (DCC) when he contested the polls as a nominee of the K. Karunakaran-led `I' group in the Congress.

party.

``I am not willing to disclose the name of the concerned leader now. I don't want to lose my credibility by opening up like Rajmohan Unnithan and Saratchandra Prasad,'' he said.

Responding to the withdrawal of suspension of the Congress MLAs, M.A. Wahid and Shobhana George, by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Mr. Govindan Nair said they were suspended from the party by the KPCC while his was by the AICC though the charges were the same — violation of party discipline.

Though the KPCC acting president, P.P. Thankachan, had said that he was hopeful that the party high command would soon take a decision on Mr. Govindan Nair, circles close to the ousted leader are not very hopeful of it.

"Mr. Karunakaran should have shown his sincerity (to Mr. Govindan Nair) by offering the Rajya Sabha seat offered to him by the Congress high command to one his loyalists like Mr. Govindan Nair who had forfeited everything, including his primary membership of the party,'' a Congress leader here said.

"Mr. Karunakaran himself had hinted at taking immediate action in Mr. Govindan Nair's case

several times. While Mr. Govindan Nair continues to be a non-member of the party for obeying the orders of the leadership of the `I' faction, those who instigated him have not only been spared of any disciplinary action, but been given due recognition by giving Ministerial berths and the party tickets in the coming elections," a Congress leader close to Mr. Govindan Nair said.

An advocate by profession, Mr. Govindan Nair was recently honoured by the Kasaragod Bar, along with a couple of other lawyers, for having completed 50 years of practice in the Bar.

It appears that the day is not far off when he opens up before the media, either here or in Thiruvananthapuram, if he fails to regain his primary membership of the party.

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