By IANS,
Palakkad (Kerala) : There is no move to include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Kerala’s main opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), senior Congress leader Vayalar Ravi said here Saturday.
“The UDF is already very strong and there is no space for one more party in the alliance,” Ravi told reporters in reply to a query.
The Kerala unit of the NCP is headed by K. Muraleedharan, son of veteran Congress leader K. Karunakaran.
Ravi, who is minister for overseas Indian affairs and parliamentary affairs, said the Congress leadership had not yet discussed any plan to include Muraleedharan in the UDF.
Karunakaran and Muraleedharan had quit the Congress in 2005 to form the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K) but a year later they merged their party with the NCP.
The NCP, an ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, was forced out of the coalition when DIC-K merged with NCP in 2006.
Much against his son’s wishes, Karunakaran returned to the Congress fold last December.
On Tuesday, Karunakaran had said that it would be good for UDF if NCP joined it.