Cong leaders in Kerala sing unity chorus

A day after partners in the ruling UDF in Kerala took up with AICC chief Sonia Gandhi differences in the state unit of Congress, top state party leaders on Thursdaysaid they would work together to retain power in the assembly polls due early next year.

In a show of unity, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President V M Sudheeran jointly held a press meet here and asserted that the “mission of Congress and UDF is to prepare their cadres to retain power’. Both Chandy and Chennithala, a former KPCC chief, agreed with Sudheeran’s view that the party and the UDF would move forward by ensuring complete unity.

The leaders indicated that the row over a letter purported to have been written by Chennithala against Chandy was a closed chapter and said the party did not have any issue that cannot be resolved.

The leaders’ joint statement assumes significance in the wake of front partners during their meeting with Gandhi on Wednesday expressing concern over the growing “disunity” in Congress and sought her intervention to resolve the differences.

They said the joint press meet was aimed at dispelling any misunderstanding and not directed by Gandhi, as reported by a section of media.