Sonia will decide on Kerala CM after polls: Azad

Express News Service

Kochi, April 30: AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said here today that the chief ministerial candidate of the UDF will be decided by Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the May 10 Assembly elections in the state.

When pointed out that senior Congress leader K. Karunakaran had earlier asserted that the Chief Minister would be selected from elected MLAs, Azad said that MLAs would be consulted before the decision is taken. The decision on the KPCC president will also be taken by the Congress president after the polls, Azad told newspersons at the Ernakulam Press Club here.

Stating that both Antony and Karunakaran had assured him a ‘smooth sail’ for the UDF in the polls and infighting was nothing new to the Congress, Azad said the Congress could defeat the mighty British despite factionalism. ‘‘Infighting and politics are twin brothers,’’ he quipped. ‘‘I am 200 per cent sure that the UDF will be voted back to power in the state. More than the Congress, the people in the State are keen on a change of Government’’, he said.

Launching an offensive on the CPM-led UDF Government in the State, Azad said the Communists have become richer but the State has become poorer. ‘‘Just look at the buildings they have in Thiruvananthapuram. This Government is in intensive care unit and on oxygen. The people of Kerala will have to bear with this patient for a few more days only’’, said Azad.

Alleging that there was a deliberate attempt on the part of the Marxist Government to keep the state underdeveloped, he said Kerala tops the literacy chart but could achieve little on the Information Technology front.

The UDF would present a ‘corruption-free, honest’ Government to the people of Kerala, he promised. Reacting on the rejection of nomination papers of Jayalalitha, he said the Election Commission should have permitted her to contest the election since another convicted candidate was allowed to contest in Kerala. ‘‘They should have left the decision to the people of Tamil Nadu’’, he opined.

Quizzed on the ethics of a tie-up with Mamata in West Bengal who is yet to pull out from the NDA, Azad said it’s a mere technicality. ‘‘We laid two conditions for her and they have been fulfilled,’’ he said.