KC(M) to be equidistant to UDF, LDF: Mani

Kerala Congress (M) supremo K M Mani today said his party would maintain equidistance from both the Congress-led front and the ruling LDF, and indicated it was eyeing the BJP camp.
Inaugurating a crucial two-day meeting of the party which would decide its future course of action in the backdrop of frictions in the ties with Congress, he said KC-M had received only 'insults and humiliations' from the Congress.
The KC-M was going through a crucial phase, but the party was strong enough to stand alone politically, he said.
"We have received only insults and humiliations from the Congress," said Mani, a former finance minister who was forced to resign over the bar bribery scam last year.

Congress had won seats in the Assembly elections with the votes of KC(M), he said, adding mutual help and trust among parties in the front had waned in the recent days.
Hinting that the party was eyeing the BJP camp, he said "If a good path opens before us, we will tread on it."

Mani, however, said his party would appreciate the good things being done by the ruling front.
Senior party leader P J Joseph, was also on the dias, when Mani made his speech.
The KC(M)'s stand would be known tomorrow after the meeting.
Congress leaders in the state have been seeking to mollify Mani with statements that KC(M) was an integral part of the front and any issues among them would be sorted out.

The rift between the KC(M) and Congress deepened recently after Congress leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala attended the betrothal ceremony of the daughter of controversial hotelier Biju Ramesh with the son of Congress leader and former minister Adoor Prakash.
Biju Ramesh, working President of Kerala State Bar Hotel Owners Association, had levelled the bar bribery charge against Mani, which finally led to his resignation in November last year.
KC(M) has maintained that a "conspiracy" was behind the scam.