THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 1: The Chief Minister E K Nayanar has said that the Gujral Government will get weakened if Congress joined it.

Nayanar said this in response to a query at the Cabinet briefing here today. He added that Congress was turning weak in different parts of the country.

It now had only 35 seats in the 425-strong Uttar Pradesh Assembly and only 17 in the 117-strong Punjab Assembly. Asked why his party favoured the participation of Tamil Manila Congress in the Government, Nayanar said TMC had fought against Congress and won seats in the last Lok Sabha elections. On Congress leader K Karunakaran's statement that CPM would soon give up its present stand against Congress joining the government, Nayanar said his party had always corrected its mistakes. But the Congress, ``since its birth, never had to correct any mistake,'' he said sarcastically.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.