'KC(M) has not thought of leaving UDF'

Kerala Congress(M) today made it clear that the party, a coalition partner of the ruling Congress led UDF, had not thought of any tie up with BJP following the resignation of Finance Minister K M Mani in the bar bribery case.
BJP had said it was not averse to a tie-up with KC(M) at the local body level.
"There is no truth in this and it is only a figment of the imagination," KC(M) General Secretary Joseph M Puthussery said in a statement here.
The statement comes in the wake of BJP state President, K Muraleedharan expressing willingness to cooperate with KC(M).

He also denied charges that BJP had reached a tactical understanding with Mani due to which the former minister had not been removed as GST Empowered Committee chairman.
Puthussery said KC(M) is an important partner in UDF coalition and the party has not thought of leaving the UDF and joining any other front.

"That party was baying for blood of KC(M) leader K M Mani and tried to tarnish his image and now it has come forward to state that they were keen to have an alliance with KC(M)," he said.
"This was a conspiracy which the people of the state will understand," Puthussery said, adding that the truth would prevail in the bar bribery case.

On November 10, Mani, against whom an FIR had been registered in the bar bribery case, had put in his papers after pressure from the United Democratic Front to quit.
Mani, whose resignation had come a day after the High Court upheld a further probe into the case, had made it clear his party would continue to support Chandy and UDF.
The case pertains to charges levelled by working President of Kerala state Bar hotel owners association, Biju Ramesh who had alleged in October 2014 that Mani had demanded Rs five crore as bribe from the Association and accepted Rs one crore for renewal of licences of over 400 Indian made foreign liquor bars.