Oommen Chandy admits IUML pressure

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Chief minister Oommen Chandy had sent a note to the Congress high command on Wednesday, shortly before the UDF meeting decided to give the fifth cabinet berth to the Muslim League, it emerged on Friday.

It is revealed that the chief minister also took the leadership’s approval for making changes in some crucial portfolios of Congress ministers with a view to ensuring communal balance.

In a note sent to the high command at 9.30 am on Wednesday, the chief minister said the Muslim League was adamant on its demand.

The League had even threatened to withdraw its four ministers if the demand was not met, he told the leadership.

The cabinet reshuffle was effected after the high command gave its formal approval for the necessary changes in the portfolios, just before the swearing in on Thursday.

Following this, the chief minister informed the special cabinet meeting held immediately after the swearing in, of the changes he intended to make.

Meanwhile, power minister Aryadan Muhammed, who stayed away from the swearing in ceremony of the two new ministers, Anoop Jacob and Manjalamkuzhi Ali, rubbished reports that he offered to resign.

He told Deccan Chronicle that the report that he informed his decision to resign from the cabinet to A.K. Antony on Wednesday night too was not true.

A meeting of the Muslim League to take stock of the current political situation, in the background of the discontent in the Congress over the fifth cabinet berth, will be held on Saturday.

aryadan, babu express dissent

Dissidence seems to be spreading in the Congress over the fifth minister issue, even as chief minister Oommen Chandy has owned moral responsibility for the decision.

Excise minister K.Babu, on Friday, said that the fifth minister was part of the UDF’s collective decision. The chief minister would not have taken such a decision all by himself, he added.

“It could have been better if the fifth minister was avoided”, Mr Babu said. But, those Congress leaders who have been critical of the decision, were not able to come up with a viable alternative, he said. In such a situation, it was imperative on the part of the chief minister to keep the UDF structure intact, he added.

Power Minister Aryadan Muhammed said the reports that he had contacted defence minister A.K. Antony on the issue were true.