Cong will decide on UDF RS candidate on Jun 14

Kochi, Jun 10 (UNI) The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee election committee will meet at Thiruvananthapuram on June 14 to take a final decision on the UDF candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala said today.

Talking to reporters after the meeting of the Ernakulam District Congress Committee here, he said although certain UDF partners may have a genuine claim to the seat this time, the Congress would nevertheless stake its claim to it.

This was necessary as the Congress needed to strengthen its presence in the Rajya Sabha in view of the current national political scenario, Mr Chennithala said without elaborating.

Challenging Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan to clarify his stand on allegations of corruption raised against Public Works Minister P J Joseph, regarding his tenure as minister in the previous LDF government, Mr Chennithala wondered why Mr Joseph and MLA T U Kuruvilla were shying away from an inquiry into the Maithri Housing Scheme.

On the debacle faced by the UDF in the recent assembly elections, he said that strong action would be taken against those who had worked against the party candidates. Action would be taken regardless of the seniority of the person concerned, he added.

Admitting that the UDF was expecting to do better in the Thrissur and Eranakulam areas, Mr Chennithala said that the UDF's failure to respect the people's wishes with regard to candidate selection was one of the main reasons for the drubbing.

He stressed the need for introspection within the party to see where it had gone wrong.

Earlier, addressing the DCC meet, former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Oommen Chandy said that there was a need for the party to learn from its mistakes.

''We should get over the shock treatment given to us by the electorate and introspect on the reasons for the defeat,'' he added.

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