UDF will observe May 18 as Betrayal Day

Kottayam, Apr 10 (UNI) The United Democratic Front (UDF) will observe the first anniversary of the Left Democratic Front(LDF) Government in Kerala on May 18 as ''Betrayal Day,'' UDF convenor P P Thankachan said.

Briefing newsmen here after a meeting of UDF leaders he said dharnas and public meetings would also be staged before select government offices in all Panchayats on that day.

The UDF will boycott the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the EMS Government, as it was part of the political agenda of the CPI (M) to gain political mileage for the party.

He said the meeting demanded that ministers Paloli Muhammed Kutty and A K Balan should resign as they had no moral right to continue in power.

If the ministers did not resign, the UDF would resort to agitations in order to compel them, with the support of the people, he said.

The UDF also criticised the ruling LDF government for not convening a the special session of the Assembly from April 17. The business advisory committee had decided to convene the assembly session. Why is the government afraid to convene the session at a time when the state was facing severe drought and drinking water problem and what was the reason for postponing the session, he said.

The next UDF meeting would be held at Thiruvananthapuram on May 2, he said.

The UDF's strengthening and reconstitution process up to the Panchayat level will be completed by May 15, he said.

Opposition leader and Chairman of the UDF, Oommen Chandy, K M Mani, M V Raghavan, Kunhalikutty, R BalaKrishna Pillai and Rajan Babu were among the UDF leaders who attended the meeting.

UNI