DIC(K) splits; T M Jacob to revive Kerala Congress (Jacob)

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 9 (UNI) The Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran), founded by veteran leader K Karunakaran, split today with a section led by former Minister T M Jacob announcing its decision to quit the party and revive the Kerala Congress (Jacob).

Announcing the decision, Mr Jacob told a news conference here that his party would cooperate with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

He said DIC(K) state office-bearers Johny Nelloor, a former MLA, Oommen Mathew, C Mohanan Pillai and K A Philip and executive members Vakkanad Radhakrishnan, Elias Mankidi, George Joseph, Biju Mattappally and Anup Jacob had also quit that party.

The decision of Mr Jacob and his followers to quit the DIC(K) comes in the wake of move by the party's leadership to merge with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Mr Karunakaran and DIC(K) President K Muraleedharan are expected to hold talks with NCP leader and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Kozhikode on September 12 in this connection.

Mr Jacob said they decided to leave the DIC(K) as they could not agree to the political stand taken by the party's leadership in recent times. In this context, they decided to quit that party and revive the Kerala Congress (Jacob) which merged with the DIC(K) an year ago.

The old state committee of the Kerala Congress (Jacob) has been convened to meet at Kottayam on September 14 to discuss matters relating to strengthening the party.

Replying to a question, Mr Jacob said the merger issue had not been discussed at the DIC(K) executive which met on August 30.

He said the Kerala Congress(Jacob) would support the UDF in the coming elections to the three-tier panchayats in the state.

UNI PMM1245