Saturday, August 27 2005 17:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Thiruvananthapuram: Ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) today (Aug 27, 2005) discussed the strategy for the coming local bodies elections in the state and set up a committee headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to oversee the preparations for the polls.

The High Power Committee of UDF, which met here, also constituted a campaign committee headed by former minister M M Hassan and also resolved to fight the coming polls unitedly UDF Convener P P Thankachan told reporters.

Thankachan and KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala are the other two members of the committee formed for the civic polls.

Rejecting as 'baseless' Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist (M) state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's charge that the UDF had entered into an understanding with the BJP for the civic polls, he claimed that Vijayan had made it foreseeing LDF's defeat in the polls.

Claiming that UDF stood for development, he alleged LDF attitude was anti-development.

Referring to the controversial SNC Lavalin deal with KSEB for renovation of three power projects signed during the previous LDF regime, he said the UDF would ask the Government to expedite the vigilance probe into the matter.

Replying to a question, he said, "No one wanted the parties and persons who recently left UDF, in a reference to K Karunakaran, T M Jacob and R Balakrishna Pillai.