New Delhi: Hardening its stand on the demand by Karunakaran faction, Congress on October 6 ruled out replacement of Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony in the wake of the defeat of its candidate in the Ernakulam Lok Sabha by-poll last week.

"There is no question of any change in the leadership in Kerala," All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary incharge of the state's affairs, Ahmed Patel, told reporters after meeting party chief Sonia Gandhi on October 6 morning.

Patel said that Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Muraleedharan, who was summoned to New Delhi to explain the reason behind party's debacle in Ernakulam Lok Sabha by-poll, met him but did not raise the issue of change of leadership.

Muraleedharan, son of senior party leader K Karunarakaran who has been in the eye of storm following his support to rival Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) candidate in the Ernakulam by-election, would be meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi to explain reasons behind the defeat.

The KPCC chief had earlier met AICC general secretary R K Dhawan, who is part of the three-member committee headed by L P Sahi to go into all aspects of the debacle.

Declining to divulge the details of his talks with Muraleedharan on Kerala developments, Patel said, "It is an internal matter and I am not going to discuss it."

After meeting Gandhi, Patel had a long meeting with AICC general secretary and a senior party leader from Kerala Vayalar Ravi and is understood to have discussed the matter in the backdrop of the briefing by Muraleedharan.

PTI