A faction of the Kerala Congress (Jacob), led by Johny Nelloor, merged ‘unconditionally’ with the Kerala Congress (M) faction led by P.J. Joseph here on Saturday. Both Mr. Joseph and Mr. Nelloor gave a call to hundreds of party workers at Rajendra Maidan to work for farmers and small traders who had put their trust in a united Kerala Congress. Mr. Joseph, who inaugurated the merger meeting, said Kerala was ripe for a major public action against some of the policy decisions of the Left Democratic Front government. Land transactions had become costly under the present regime. Kerala was ripe for a revolution in sectors such as tourism and food processing. Infrastructure such as the north-south expressway, which was proposed long ago by him, needed to be constructed.
‘Not after power’
Mr. Nelloor, the party’s chairman for 27 years, said some in the media had described him as hankering after power. However, if he was looking for power and position he would have joined the State Cabinet led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the erstwhile United Democratic Front government. He claimed that at that time he had pledged his loyalty to the late Minister T.M. Jacob. However, Anoop Jacob, MLA and Kerala Congress (Jacob), leader had not understood the current political situation. He alleged that Kerala was witness to rampant corruption. People must rise against the policies and actions of the LDF government.
Kerala Congress leaders T.U. Kuruvilla, Thomas Unnyadan, Mons Joseph, C.F. Thomas, C. Mohanan Pillai, Xavi Kurisumveedan, Joy Abraham, Arakkal Balakrishna Pillai, Vincent Joseph and George Joseph were present.
Published - March 07, 2020 11:39 pm IST
