By IANS
Kochi : Angered by former Kerala chief minister K. Karunakaran’s decision to rejoin the Congress, supporters of his son and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state unit president K. Muraleedharan Tuesday attacked a group of Karunakaran supporters here.
Karunakaran’s close aide N. Venugopal said: “We had called a meeting of senior leaders who are aligned with Karunakaran in Kochi. When the meeting was about to begin, four youth leaders of the NCP along with hired goons barged into the meeting hall and attacked us.”
Trouble between the father and son has been brewing ever since the former Congress leader made it clear on Nov 30 that he is returning to the Congress party.
His decision to return to the Congress was strongly criticized by Muraleedharan, who Saturday lambasted him for the first time in public, saying Karunakaran had ditched his supporters.
Reacting to Tuesday’s attack on his father’s supporters, Muraleedharan said: “It was an ideological clash between a section that does not wish to return to the Congress party and the one that wants to. This has happened earlier.”
Karunakaran defended his son, saying: “My son is not the type to unleash such violence.”
However, senior Congress leader Rajmohan Unnithan, a former aide of Muraleedharan, said there is no doubt that Karunakaran’s son was behind the attack.
“Don’t I know what is Muraleedharan made up of? He was behind the attack on me three years ago. He should be put behind bars,” said Unnithan.