VS refuses to share dais with PDP

Tuesday,7 April 2009
Thiruvananthapuram: Though Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Abdul Nasir Madany shared the dais with senior Communist Party of India-Marxist state leaders last month, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Tuesday refused to share the stage with any PDP leader.

Madany, who was exonerated in 2007 in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast case after being jailed as an undertrial for nearly a decade, has been moving closer to the CPM since his release.

Last month, CPM state secretary Pinaryi Vijayan and Madany shared the dais to kick start the campaign for ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF)-supported independent candidate Hussain Randathany at the Ponnani constituency in Malappuram district.

Achuthanandan, who arrived in Ponnani for campaigning, Tuesday instructed that none of the PDP leaders should be on the stage with him.

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, asked by reporters why Vijayan and Achuthanandan adopted different stands towards Madany, denied any differences.

"They (PDP) had offered us their party support and I am told by the state leaders that they will do their campaign independently. I will check with my leaders in Kerala about the sharing of dais," said Karat.

Madany has come under flak from the media here with several publishing reports about him and his wife Sufiya Maudany's alleged involvement with the Bangalore bomb blasts-accused.

Maudany has denied any involvement and has gone on record to say that neither he nor any of his party activists is involved in any terror case.

Legislator P.C. George Tuesday circulated copies of a charge sheet filed by the Kozhikode police in a case in which Madany is an accused. The trial is to start in May.

"The statement by Vijayan and Madany that there are no cases pending against him is false. I submit all the evidence before you," said George.

Ever since the CPM got support from Madany for the Lok Sabha polls, party leaders have been at pains to explain that the PDP is just supporting the Left candidates and they have no alliance