Kerala Congress (Mani) quits UDF coalition

Kerala Congress (Mani), a key constituent in the Congress-led UDF for over three decades, on Sunday left the coalition over differences with “some centres” in the Congress leadership.

KC(M) chairman and former finance minister K M Mani announced the decision at Charalkunnu in Pathanamthitta district after a meeting of the party’s state leaders.

The veteran leader said the party, which has six MLAs in the 140-member state Assembly, would function as a “responsible opposition” independent of the UDF. “The party MLAs will be seated as a separate block in the Assembly. Though we’ve decided to move out of the UDF, the party doesn’t intend to alter existing arrangements in local bodies,” Mani told reporters.

He said the party would not join the CPM-led ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) or the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The party with two MPs will extend “issue-based support” to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.

Mani and other leaders of his party have contended that a conspiracy was hatched in the Congress against KC(M) through the bar bribery scam, which led to Mani’s resignation as finance minister in the previous UDF government. Mani, however, said issues around the scam were only one of the reasons behind the split.