"UDF campaign not good"

AK Antony expressed dissatisfaction at the front campaign, saying it lacked the order and discipline like CPI(M)-led LDF and added that infighting within Congress had a lot to do with it.

With hardly a fortnight remaining for the May 10 polls and the UDF campaign failing to perk up, Kerala Chief Minister AK Antony on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction at the front campaign, saying it lacked the order and discipline like that of its rival front - CPI(M)-led LDF.

HT Image

Antony, whose 'Navothana Yatra' from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, had reached halfway across the state, told 'Janavidhi 2004', organised by the Ernakulam Press Club, that the factional feud in the Congress in the state had affected the campaign scene to a large extent.

Though the present unity had percolated to the grassroots level, he was not satisfied with the campaign, Antony, whose yatra reached Ernakulam district yesterday, said.

Asked if the new found unity between the senior Congress leader, K Karunakaran and himself would last only till the May 10 polls, he said it would continue even after that.

On the allegations levelled by CPI(M) leader, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan that the AG's report on Marad violence had not been tabled in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said Kodiyeri should be graceful enough to accept that he had made a mistake. Kodiyeri's statement amounted to disrespect to the assembly, he added.