Monday, March 21 2005 22:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kochi: In yet another show of strength, the 'I' faction of the Congress in Kerala headed by senior leader K Karunakaran tonight (Mar 21, 2005) staged a massive rally in Kochi, defying the party high command and the State leadership and managed to line up 13 of its MLAs at the meeting.

Continuing their tirade against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) president Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, both Karunakaran and his son K Muraleedharan said the 'misrule' of the present UDF (United Democratic Front) Government cannot be tolerated any further.

'We will not seek votes for the front led by Chandy in the next elections,' Muraleedharan said.

This is the third and final zonal rally held by the faction this month, defying the high command's directive to call off the meetings.

The father-son duo, however, took pains to affirm their loyalty to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. 'We will always remain loyal to the Gandhi family,' they said.

'The day is not far away when a democratic secular front like the one at the Centre would be formed here,' Muraleedharan, who was suspended from the party on the eve of the first zonal rally held at Kozhikode for defying the high command directive, said.

Talking tough, Chandy told reporters at Thiruvananthapuram that defying the high command's directives and party decisions cannot be tolerated for long. The 'I' group should stop violating party discipline first and obey AICC (All India Congress Committee) directives.

In another related development, former 'I' faction loyalist Kadavoor Sivadasan was today elected deputy leader of the Congress Legislature party, replacing M P Gangadharan who was removed from the post for attending the faction's rally at Thiruvananthapuram.