4 Left legislators willing to cross over: Kerala UDF leader

Kochi, April 23 (IANS) Kerala government chief whip and veteran United Democratic Front (UDF) legislator P.C.George Monday alleged that four legislators from the CPI-M-led opposition are ready to cross over to the ruling front.

'If Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala agree, four legislators are ready to come over to our side,' said George to reporters here.

'This is not just mere gossip. The crux of the issue is that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is in shambles and it is just a matter of getting the green signal from the top leaders in the UDF,' added George.

Incidentally, it was only last month that R.Selvaraj, a two-time legislator from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) shocked his party and many others when he quietly handed over his resignation to Speaker G.Karthikeyan.

And now the Chandy-led UDF has given Selvaraj an indication that it will support him in the by-election in the Neyyatinkara assembly constituency, from which he resigned, as and when it is held.

The CPI-M, stunned by the shock resignation of Selvaraj, has accused George and Chandy of engineering the defection by giving him a huge sum.

Among those speculated about in the media as likely to cross over is CPI-M legislator A.M. Ariff, representing the Aroor constituency in Alappuzha district. He, however, categorically denied any such intention.

'If need be, I will take legal recourse to the canard being spread about me,' said a peeved Ariff.

Currently, the ruling UDF has 72 members and the LDF 67 in the assembly, with one seat lying vacant.