UDF leaders meet decides to work unitedly

The meeting of the nine-party coalition chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy felt that it was not proper on the part of UDF MLAs and leaders to appear in Television Channel debates without 'knowing the facts' about issues.

A verbal tussle between Finance Minister K M Mani and Revenue Minister Adoor Prakesh over the Land Use Bill and open criticism by certain UDF MLAs had caused embarrassment to the Front.

Besides the resentment expressed by Kerala Congress (Mani) faction, the Indian Union Muslim League had stated that the party was being 'isolated' in the Front.

The issues relating to draft of Land Use Bill between the Finance Minister and Revenue Minister has been sorted out, Front Convener P P Thankachan told reporters after the meeting.

The Front also assured IUML that their complaints would be looked into, he added.

The district level UDF committees would be reconstituted with a view to strengthening the functioning of the Front, he said.

It was decided that the Front partners should inform the Chief Minister or KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala if they had any complaints on government policies.

The leadership meeting of UDF would be held frequently to discuss the issues and find solutions, he said.

On other decisions, he said the Front was of the opinion that the Kochi Metrol Rail project should be implemented by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation itself.

It wanted the Chief Minister to take steps in this regard during his visit to Delhi later this week, he said.

The Front constituted a sub-committee headed by Communist Marxist Party (CMP) leader M V Raghavan to work out a solution to the Pariyaram Medical College issue.

The State Co-operation department had recommended taking over the College while CMP had demanded dismissal of the present CPI-M controlled Director Board.