'Morally wrong, politically incorrect' on my part to attend UDF meeting: Kerala Cong chief

Kerala state Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran on Sunday said that he had skipped the United Democratic Front (UDF) meeting as it was "morally and politically" wrong for him to attend the meeting. "I am now continuing as a caretaker KPCC president," Mullappally Ramchandran added.

Kerala Cong chief on not attending UDF meeting

Earlier on Saturday, Mullappally Ramchandran had offered to step down taking responsibility for the defeat in the assembly elections. While briefing the reports, he had said that he was not keen to continue as KPCC president. The Kerala state Congress chief had also told that after the UDF defeat in the election, he had sent a detailed report to his party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi. It is important to note here that the Kerala Congress leader did not attend the first meeting of UDF, which was held on Friday after the State Assembly elections. 

Kerala Assembly Elections

The polling for the 2021 state Assembly polls was held on April 6 with an impressive voter turnout of 74.06 per cent. After a hard-fought election campaign, Left Democratic Front (LDF)created history by becoming the first incumbent government in Kerala in nearly four decades to get re-elected. The tally of the United Democratic Front (UDF), buoyed by its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls where it won 19 out of 20 seats in the state, was reduced to 41 seats. In contrast, LDF bagged 99 out of 140 seats, 8 more than the 2016 election. UDF's vote share of 39.47% could not pose a challenge to the ruling alliance which garnered a vote share of 45.43%.

While the results were announced on May 2, the swearing-in ceremony was a matter of debate, with many suggesting to go for a virtual ceremony instead of a physical one, owing to the COVID-19 scenario in the state which is presently under a triple lockdown. The government, backed by the Kerala High Court on the condition of strict adherence to COVID protocol, decided to go for a physical ceremony for today- May 20, with 500 people in attendance. Miffed by the decision, the opposition- the Congress-led UDFchose to stay away from the event. 

(Image: ANI)