Thiruvananthapuram: Congress-led UDF in
Kerala, which registered a resounding success in Lok Sabha
polls winning 16 of the 20 seats, will repeat its good
performance in the coming bypolls to three assembly
constituencies, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Sunday.
The three seats, vacated by Congress MLAs K Sudhakaran
(Kannur), K C Venugopal (Alappuzha) and K V Thomas
(Ernakulam), after their election to the Lok Sabha from the
respective segments, are slated to go to polls on November 7.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here,
he claimed there was a wave in favour of UDF.
On complaints of election code violation by UDF leaders
during the campaign for the bypolls, the senior Congress
leader said the Election Commission would examine the issue.
Opposition leader Oommen Chandy also exuded confidence
that UDF would win the by-elections.
He said UDF has not unnecessarily complained against
any official and there were valid reasons for the complaint
against the Kannur District Collector who was removed by
the Election Commission.
Collector V K Balakrishnan was removed following
complaints of irregularities in the voters' list.
Consensus approach necessary
Nurturing the culture of
co-operation, consensus and healthy competition cutting across
political divide was important for Kerala's economic and
social development, Defence Minister A K Antony said today.
It was necessary to evolve a consensus on long-term and
short-term development of Kerala acknowledging the fact that
the right to rule was not the monopoly of any single party
here, he said.
He was here for inauguration of the valedictory of the
'Vikasana (development) Yatra' of 'Janasree Sustainable
Development Mission' led by Congress leader M M Hassan here.
"Let there be many self-help groups like Janasree and
Kutumbasree. Let them engage in a healthy competition for
grassroots level development, especially the empowerment of
women and uplift of the downtrodden," Antony said.
"Governments will change. The colour of flags will
change. But the initiatives for development should go on. It
is important to evolve a consensus and spirit of competition
to achieve the targets of development," he said.
Since women's empowerment was vital for the social and
economic progress, self-help movements and NGOs had a major
role to play in the development process, he said.
"No party or social movement can go forward ignoring
women, especially since the enactment of the panchayati raj
act by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which envisaged
a key role for women in governance," he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, November 01, 2009, 19:27