Mulapally again seeks Muraleedharan's re-entry into Congress

Minister of State for Home Mulapally Ramachandran Monday again called for former state Congress unit chief K. Muraleedharan to be allowed to rejoin the Congress party.

He had made a similar demand last week, resulting in strong statements against his opinion and exposing fissures in the Congress' state unit on the issue.

Speaking to reporters here, Ramachandran said that he never made any "dangerous statements" on the issue.

"Congress is a great democratic party so anyone who is desirous to return should be given the nod. I don't understand why there is this untouchability to Muraleedharan alone. It is a non-issue at all. In the past, he has made some statements which resulted in issues. It is best he maintains self-discipline after his previous experience," said Ramachandran.

However, criticising Ramachandran's statement, senior Congress leader and head of the party's media cell, M.M. Hassan told reporters at Palakkad that it is "unfortunate" that he has again made this statement.

Muraleedharan was suspended from the Congress for anti-party activities in 2005 following which he and his father and former chief minister K. Karunakaran formed the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K). A year later, the DIC-K merged with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

On Aug 1 this year, he was expelled from the NCP after he made his intention public that he was interested in returning to the Congress.

The state Congress executive in August decided that Muraleedharan need not be taken back into the party

Last updated on Nov 9^th, 2009 at 18:05 pm IST--IANS