Chandy need not quit in view of HC order: Antony

: Senior Congress leader and Defence Minister A K Antony today said there was no need for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to quit in view of the Kerala High Court ordering a CBI probe into the land grab cases involving his former gunman Salim Raj.
"The Government as well as the Congress party have welcomed the court decision on the CBI probe. The court had been informed of this stand before it issued orders . So, in this circumstance there is no need for Chandy to resign", he told a meet-the-press here.
The high court yesterday pulled up the Chief Minister's office in connection with the case, triggering instant outcry from the LDF leaders for Chandy's resignation.

Antony, in Kerala for an extended campaign for the UDF candidates across the state, exuded confidence that the front was in for a thumping victory over the LDF.
Mounting an attack on the CPI(M), he said the UDF would increase the tally by at least one seat from the 16 it won in 2009 Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
"The CPI(M)'s support base has shrunk as it still clung to an outdated ideology and lost the capacity to feel the pulse of the present Kerala. The people are also opposed to politics of violence," he claimed.
The Congress veteran said the CPI(M) had become so weak that it was not even bold enough to put up candidates on its own symbol in all the seats it received as its share in the LDF. In five seats, the party has fielded independents, which exposed its weakness," he said.