Thiruvananthapuram, May 7 (PTI) Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K Mani on Thursday denied any crisis in the party in the aftermath of its Assembly election defeat and ruled out possibilities of a merger with the Kerala Congress (J) faction.
Mani was speaking to reporters here after attending a meeting of LDF allies to evaluate the election results.
The LDF could secure only 35 seats, while Kerala Congress (Mani) failed to win any seat after contesting in 12 constituencies.
Mani said the LDF meeting discussed the defeat in general, and detailed talks would be held later.
He said each party in the alliance would hold separate meetings to evaluate the defeat.
“Our party steering committee will be held on May 9, where all the factors will be discussed. After all parties complete their meetings, the LDF will hold discussions again after June 15, during which other decisions will be taken,” he said.
He denied that Kerala Congress (M) had lost its relevance after failing to secure any MLA seat.
“Victories and defeats always happen. We have suffered defeats before. The Kerala Congress (Joseph) group had won only one seat before. The party supporters continue their support,” he said.
He said that, apart from supporters’ votes, the votes of neutral people determine a candidate’s victory.
“Only one person can win in an election. There is no pass mark in the election results. We will examine the lapses and move forward strongly. We are confident of a comeback as we have suffered crises before, even when the party was split and we were ousted from the UDF,” he said.
Regarding a merger with UDF ally Kerala Congress (J), which secured a major victory in the election, Mani denied any such possibility.
Recently, Kerala Congress (J) leaders had said they would welcome leaders from the Mani faction.
“A few months back, when they were in crisis, I had offered them help. Their statement now is made on the assumption that we are in crisis. But I want to openly say that we have no crisis and we will go forward,” he said.
He said the LDF had unitedly faced the election and all alliance parties would collectively take responsibility for the defeat.
On whether minority consolidation led to the LDF’s defeat, Mani denied it, saying it was the people’s verdict.
“Parties win elections only after getting votes from people. There are no minority or majority factors in it. People made a decision after which we lost the election. We congratulate the other front and hope they put in a good performance in the government,” he said. PTI TBA TBA ROH
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