THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Jan 28: With the entire Congress election committee, barring A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi, questioning the wisdom of K Karunakaran -- a Rajya Sabha member -- contesting the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, the veteran leader's political stock nose-dived in New Delhi of Tuesday.However, given Karunakaran's seniority in the party, an election sub-committee was supposed to meet again today to thrash out the issue.
According to sources, both P C Chacko and K P Unnikrishnan found adequate support within the election committee and their candidatures were almost cleared. However the strong resistance put up from outside by Karunakaran acted as a barrier.
It is reliably learnt that if it wasn't for Antony and Ravi, Karunakaran would not have made it to the hustings this time. Antony, who had announced a full rapprochement with Karunakaran in the larger interests of the party in the state, warned the election committee against keeping Karunakaran out. Ravi also seconded Antony'sview.
According to sources, election committee members were not inclined to allow Karunakaran to contest a Lok Sabha seat in view of the fact that the party was desperately trying for a majority in the new Parliament. However, Karunakaran tried to reason that the post-election scenario would change in favour of the Congress and that his losing the Rajya Sabha seat would not make much of a difference. The election committee members however remained unconvinced. They wondered about the guarantee for such a post-poll situation. When contacted over the telephone from here, Karunakaran asserted that there was absolutely no change in his candidature. He added that he had not even heard any reports to the contrary.
The election sub-committee headed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Sitaram Kesri was said to be annoyed by Karunakaran's uncompromising attitude towards Chacko's candidature from Mukundapuram.
Congressman Arjun Singh was learnt to have wondered why a popular leader like Chackoshould be sacrificed. Singh also said that while Sonia Gandhi's efforts were aimed at improving the overall tally of the Congress, Karunakaran's seemed to undermine her efforts, at least as it appeared in Mukundapuram. Most Congress Working Committee members also shared Arjun Singh's view on Chacko, who is well-known in Delhi.
At the same time, Karunakaran maintained that if Chacko was the candidate in Mukundapuram, the people would vote him out. Chacko was unpopular in the constituency and as a result, the Congressmen would revolt, he claimed.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
