AK Antony Blames Party Colleagues' Arrogance For Kerala Civic Polls Loss

Thiruvananthapuram: In remarks critical of his party heading the ruling UDF in Kerala, senior Congress leader AK Antony today said the front suffered setbacks in the recent civic elections due to "over confidence and arrogance" of certain leaders.

"I was very happy after the victory of UDF candidate in Aruvikara (Assembly) bye-election in June 2015. There was a feeling that a UDF wave was on in the state. But the situation changed after the bypoll... Civic poll debacle is a lesson that if one becomes more arrogant, loss is imminent," he said.

Addressing a function organised by Kerala State Service Pensioner's Association in Thiruvananthapuram, the Congress Working Committee member, however, said the situation had slightly "improved" following the recent visit of AICC President Sonia Gandhi to the state.

Reflecting on the civic poll outcome, in which the CPI-M did well and BJP made inroads in some parts, Mr Antony, without naming anyone, claimed "certain Congress leaders and workers became over confident, developed head weight and arrogance."

So they did not feel like taking everybody together, he said, apparently referring to 'groupism' in the party which was brought to Sonia Gandhi's attention by the coalition leaders when she visited the state last month.

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However, things were slowly changing after the visit of Sonia Gandhi, he said.

Over confidence should be avoided, he said, adding, only planned work was needed.

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Mr Antony also said opinion of government employees and pensioners should also be taken into consideration while implementing the Pay Commission recommendation for them. State Ministers K Babu, VS Sivakumar and K Muraleedharan, lawmaker, were among those present on the occasion.