At third rally, Karunakaran, son declare war on CM Chandy

Kerala Congress rebel leader K. Karunakaran today vowed to throw off his rivals and give the people the Congress government ‘‘they want’’. Painting the third ‘I’ group rally as a success of his relations with the high command, the former chief minister said Congress president Sonia Gandhi was ‘‘in tears’’ when she saw him off after their meeting two days ago.

Addressing the crowd that swamped Marine Grounds, Karunakaran said the only thing he had told Sonia when he met her in New Delhi was that he could not put off his rallies; the rest of the talks were ‘‘private’’. ‘‘I hadn’t met her for long owing to some misunderstandings. When I did, I cleared it all,’’ Karunakaran said. ‘‘She (Sonia) was in tears when she saw me off at the car.’’

The rally, on the whole, saw Karunakaran and son Muraleedharan slamming Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and vowing the formation of a new secular coalition in Kerala, similar to the UPA. There was no question of the ‘I’ group seeking votes for the coalition headed by Chandy, they said.

Holding forth under huge papier mache busts of himself and son Muraleedharan flanked by Indira Gandhi and Sonia, Karunakaran said the ‘I’ group would be the real McCoy in the Congress, drawing a parallel to Indira Gandhi’s Congress became the real one after it split in 1978.