Baby never offered to quit as MLA, says Kodiyeri

KANNUR:  CPI (M) politburo member and deputy opposition leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Monday denied the reports that M A Baby MLA had offered to quit following his rout in Kollam Lok Sabha poll against UDF candidate N K Premachandran (RSP).

The news is baseless and only a creation of the media, he said.

Talking to newsmen on the sidelines of a function at Payyambalam, after paying floral tributes to former Chief Minister E K Nayanar on the 10th death anniversary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said Baby never offered to resign his MLA post before politburo meeting, which was held yesterday in New Delhi.

To another question, Kodiyeri said the resignation of party leaders on the basis of failure in an election was not a policy of the party like other political parties do as a 'gimmick'. The failure of LDF in Kollam was not the fault of the party leadership. There was no mistake in the selection of the candidate. The reason for the defeat was political.

However, the party will examine the cause of the failure of LDF candidates and remedial measures will be taken. A detailed draft for correction of the situation will be brought out at the next meeting on June 6, Kodiyeri said.

He claimed some Revolutionist Marxist Party (RMP) cadres had 'given their votes in favor of UDF' candidate at Vadakara. This led to the failure of the LDF candidate.

He said the victory of UDF in the Lok Sabha poll was mainly due to BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The minority votes were mostly polled in favour of the UDF, he said.