By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Veteran Kerala politician K. Karunakaran Monday said he regrets having criticised the Congress and wants to return to the party fold.
Addressing hundreds of workers of the former Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K) — that was formed in 2005 after splitting from the Congress and has merged with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — Karunakaran said he had been wrong in leaving the Congress.
“I have no qualms in admitting a mistake I made. It was wrong for me to leave the Congress and criticise the party. So now I want to return to the Congress,” said Karunakaran.
The meeting of the party workers took place at the Tagore Centenary Hall here. It was incidentally at the same venue on Jan 29, 2004, that Karunakaran had announced his intention to form a separate party.
At that time, his son K. Muraleedharan was the state Congress president and did not support his father’s decision. Instead, he agreed to join then chief minister A.K. Antony’s cabinet.
Muraleedharan, who is now the state president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has now already announced that he does not wish to return to the Congress witn his father.
Karunakaran said he is sad that his son is not supporting him politically.
“Whatever is written in the media, I tell you that it wouldn’t be long before Muraleedharan will have to return to the Congress. See, I have seen both the left and right as far as politics is concerned, and I tell you that the India that you see today is just because of the Indian National Congress,” he said.
“I announce that I am returning to the Congress. From today onwards, I will take steps to see that we return to the Congress. We will join the Congress through a rally. I will tell you the details later,” Karunakaran told his supporters.