By TwoCircles.net Staff Correspondent,
Kozhikode: The Indian National League left the LDF and fought along with the UDF in the recently-held local body polls in Kerala. While the LDF made the INL waiting for long time outside the alliance, the UDF has made it clear now itself that it would not take any new party into the alliance. The party is also bent on not to go back to the mother organisation Muslim League. The party’s political affairs committee is meeting today in Kozhikode in such a crucial situation. The meeting will decide on the party’s stand in the coming Assembly elections and in future.
A merger with the Muslim League is a closed episode, said Prof Muhammed Sulaiman, national president of the INL. The INL has clear policies and views. The party will discuss and rectify if there are any faults in them. The cooperation with the UDF in the local body polls was only a temporary adjustment. The party’s decision with regard to the Assembly elections is yet to be discussed and decided. It is the Congress which should come forward for anything related to an entry of the INL into the UDF, he added.
The UDF has no agenda to take another party into it, said Oommen Chandy, senior Congress leader and Opposition leader. He was responding to the media persons’ query whether the INL which had been with the alliance in the local body polls would be taken in. Mr Chandy added that he had no information if the INL, which was cooperating with the UDF, returning to the LDF.
Meanwhile the INL political affairs committee (PAC) is meeting in Kozhikode today amid the crisis and groupism in the party. The PAC includes the party national president, general secretary and state presidents. The party presidents of nine states reached Kozhikode yesterday itself. Besides state president SA Puthiyavalappil, general secretary PMA Salam (MLA) also will attend the meeting representing Kerala. Besides the Kerala crisis, the meeting will also decide on whether to join appeal against the Allahabad HC verdict in the Supreme Court and the policy to take on the spectrum scam.
The state INL which had been with the LDF since its formation opted to cooperate and support the UDF in the recent local body poll as the LDF refused to take the party into the alliance. The decision to fight the elections along with the UDF was taken in the state committee meeting of the INL held at Thalasseri in Kannur in early June. Three options had arisen in that meeting – to continue with the LDF, to cooperate with the UDF or to stay alone without cooperating with any alliance. Since no decision was reached at the meeting, national president Muhammed Sulaiman suggested cooperating with the UDF in the local body polls. The cooperation was only for the local body polls. A group which did not like the decision left the party and continued with the LDF, helping the alliance in the local body polls. But a good share remained with the official decision and fought the polls against the LDF. However, a group of the party leaders are now turning against the alliance with the UDF as the party reportedly lost a good number of seats in the election.