By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Decks have been cleared for merger of four political parties, each an offshoot of the Kerala Congress, which have decided to work together while maintaining their individual identity for the time being.
The four parties are those headed by K.M. Mani, R. Balakrishna Pillai, T.M. Jacob and P.C. George.
George, who leads the Kerala Congress (Secular), said a deal was finalised and all four parties leaders had agreed to it.
“Initially, we will work together and our ultimate aim is the merger of all the Kerala Congress parties. That would take a longer time,” George told IANS.
“We are totally against the present Left government because it is not a Marxist alliance but a fascist alliance,” he said.
George, a five-time legislator who was a fellow traveller of the Left, was booted out of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) two months back. It was he who played a crucial role in mooting the merger idea.
The Kerala Congress headed by Mani and the one headed by Pillai are already allies of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, while Jacob’s party was an ally till 2004 when it was merged with the Democratic Congress Indira-Karunakaran.
But Jacob revitalized his party last year and is knocking on the doors of the UDF for an entry.
The four leaders have decided to name the new set-up the Confederation of Kerala Congress.
The only ‘Kerala Congress’ party left out of the grouping is the Kerala Congress (Joseph) that has four legislators and is an ally of the LDF government.
Now all eyes are on Joseph, who is said to be unhappy with the Left camp. It remains to be seen if he will join the Confederation.
It was in 1964 that the Kerala Congress was first formed and since then it has split several times and the last time there was a single Kerala Congress was way back in 1984.