UDF govt rocked by father-son rift

• KC-B leader Balakrishnan demands sacking of son Ganesh Kumar
• JSS also wants removal of Govt Chief Whip P C George
• UDF, which has 73 MLAs in the 140-member House, depends on allies

Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The rift between father and son in the ruling Congress led UDF seems to be far from over with Kerala Congress-B leader R Balakrishna Pillai renewing his demand for removal of his son and Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar from the ministry. A crucial meeting of the UDF scheduled to be held here on April 2 would take up the demand of Pillai, who complained that his son was ignoring the party workers and "not functioning according to party line". Pillai had written letters to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and UDF Convener P P Thankachan seeking removal of his son, who is the lone MLA of KC-B in the Assembly. For UDF, which has 73-members in the 140-member Assembly, support of all its constituents is very important. Though it looks that an agreement has been reached between the father and son soon after a settlement was arrived at on a family matter of Ganesh Kumar recently, things have now almost returned to square one. Ganesh Kumar called on Pillai on Thursday to enquire about his health after the latter had suffered uneasiness during a trip to hillshrine Sabarimla. After the meeting, though Ganesh Kumar told media that there was no difference with the party and all issues with his father would be sorted out. "There is nothing that can not be sorted out," he had said. However, Pillai gave a different version and categorically stated that his party stick to its earlier demand that Ganesh Kumar be removed from the cabinet. "Nothing has changed and there was no need for any further talks on the issue". "What is required now is a decision (regarding his son's removal from the cabinet) at the next meeting of the UDF", he said. Another problem faced by the UDF was the demand of Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS), another small partner, to remove P C George, a nominee of Kerala Congress (M), from the post of Government Chief Whip. The demand was in the wake of George's unsavoury comments against JSS leader K R Gowri and her late husband and CPI leader T V Thomas. JSS had stated that they would take up this issue during the next UDF meeting. The party has no representation in the Assembly.