The meeting of Congressmen, convened for tomorrow by party leader K. Karunakaran, has hinted at a revival of group activities in the party. MLAs, KPCC office-bearers and DCC presidents loyal to him are expected to meet here. Sources close to Karunakaran told The Indian Express that his daughter Padmaja Venugopal had taken the initiative to convene the meeting. Karunakaran’s son K. Muraleedharan and KPCC chief P.P. Thankachan, however, have distanced themselves from the move.The meeting is expected to take stock of poll results and analyse it. Meanwhile, Karunakaran said he would meet all party MLAs in days to come. Referring to his son’s stand against attending the meeting, Karunakaran said he was not the one to conduct party work or accept orders from Muraleedharan.Asked whether he stuck to his previous demand for Antony’s removal, Karunakaran said no one should try to drive a wedge between him and Antony.The veteran leader also said that the inclusion of Shivraj Patil and P.M. Sayeed in the Union Cabinet should have been avoided following their defeat in Lok Sabha polls. ‘‘This has been criticised by certain quarters. I only want to say that this should have been avoided in a democracy,” Karunakaran told reporters.
