Kicking up a row in both Kerala Congress (M) and the UDF, KC (M) leader Antony Raju said that in case the Congress did not allow to field KC(M) nominee Francis George in Idukki, a friendly contest should be held in the high-range district.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Sunday, he said that a friendly contest can take place and it was not a new thing in the UDF as it had happened before.
‘’A friendly contest took place in Kaduthuruthy in 1996. The majority of the party workers are of the opinion that Francis George should contest from Idukki. KC(M) is unanimous in its demand put across by K M Mani in the party meetings for contesting two Lok Sabha seats,’’ he said.
He said that the Congress had only benefited due to the merger of Kerala Congress and it was due to the support extended by KC(M) that Oommen Chandy could become the Chief Minister. ‘’The Congress should show the courtesy to give Idukki seat to KC(M),’’ he added.
Meanwhile, K Muraleedharan, MLA said that a friendly contest should be avoided and the comments made by Antony Raju was his personal remark as clarified by KC(M) chairman K M Mani. ‘’Congress is against any such friendly contest. It will be only help the prospects of LDF candidate. By his statement Antony Raju has exceeded the limits and such comments should have been avoided,’’ he added
Soon after the remark, Mani and P J Joseph rejected Antony Raju’s statement and clarified that the party will contest only under the UDF and all other opinions are totally baseless.
‘no ‘friendly Match’ within coalition’
The contest will be under the framework of the coalition set-up. There is no ‘friendly-match’ within the coalition. A friendly match is not the policy of Kerala Congress(M). The seat sharing talks are yet to start in the UDF. KC(M) will stand only for a contest which is within the framework of the coalition set-up. Any statement contrary to this is irrelevant and is not the official stance of the party,”said KC(M) Chairman K M Mani.