Kerala: NCP-DIC(K) merger announced

DIC President K Muraleedharan, NCP State Secretary Cyriac John said NCP leader and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar would attend the merger meeting, to be held in Kochi on November 12.

Muraleedharan said DIC's merger with NCP was without any pre-condition. The NCP national leadership would take an appropriate decision on NCP state leadership posts after the merger.

"The merger is a reunion of parties having Congress culture and tradition," he said.

Playing down the statement of Rashtriya Samajwadi Party and Communist Party of India leaders that the NCP with Karunakaran and Muraleedharan would not have any place in the Left Democratic Front, John said it was the opinion of those leaders and not that of LDF as a whole.

John also claimed that the merger of both parties and coming together of leaders like Karunakaran and Sharad Pawar would have a significant change in national politics.