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Sonia
will decide on Kerala CM after polls: Azad
Express News
Service
Kochi, April
30: AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said here today
that the chief ministerial candidate of the UDF will be decided
by Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the May 10 Assembly elections
in the state.
When pointed out that senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran had
earlier asserted that the Chief Minister would be selected from
elected MLAs, Azad said that MLAs would be consulted before the
decision is taken. The decision on the KPCC president will also
be taken by the Congress president after the polls, Azad told newspersons
at the Ernakulam Press Club here.
Stating that both Antony and Karunakaran had assured him a ‘smooth
sail’ for the UDF in the polls and infighting was nothing new
to the Congress, Azad said the Congress could defeat the mighty
British despite factionalism. ‘‘Infighting and politics
are twin brothers,’’ he quipped. ‘‘I am 200
per cent sure that the UDF will be voted back to power in the state.
More than the Congress, the people in the State are keen on a change
of Government’’, he said.
Launching an offensive on the CPM-led UDF Government in the State,
Azad said the Communists have become richer but the State has become
poorer. ‘‘Just look at the buildings they have in Thiruvananthapuram.
This Government is in intensive care unit and on oxygen. The people
of Kerala will have to bear with this patient for a few more days
only’’, said Azad. Alleging that there was a deliberate
attempt on the part of the Marxist Government to keep the state
underdeveloped, he said Kerala tops the literacy chart but could
achieve little on the Information Technology front.
The UDF would present a ‘corruption-free, honest’ Government
to the people of Kerala, he promised. Reacting on the rejection
of nomination papers of Jayalalitha, he said the Election Commission
should have permitted her to contest the election since another
convicted candidate was allowed to contest in Kerala. ‘‘They
should have left the decision to the people of Tamil Nadu’’,
he opined.
Quizzed on the ethics of a tie-up with Mamata in West Bengal who
is yet to pull out from the NDA, Azad said it’s a mere technicality.
‘‘We laid two conditions for her and they have been fulfilled,’’
he said.
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