- Kerala Congress
The Kerala Congress is a
political party inKerala ,India .The Founder of the party isK M George , fromVazhakulam ,Muvattupuzha . The party has its roots in theIndian National Congress . The party is traditionally dominated by theChristian minority in the state. The Kerala Congress party system is known for its commitment to the farmers and the rural agrarian sections.Fact|date=February 2008 The main vote bank of the party is the farming community inKottayam ,Idukki and some other districts.The Kerala Congress has suffered severe divisions and several parallel outfits have emerged, all claiming the name 'Kerala Congress'. Splinter-groups include
Kerala Congress (Mani) ,Kerala Congress (Joseph) ,Kerala Congress (Balakrishna Pillai) ,Kerala Congress (Jacob) , andKerala Congress (Secular) . The group that has retained the official recognition by theElection Commission of India to the name is the grouping led byP.J. Joseph . Thus it is often called Kerala Congress (Joseph).The party is a constituent of the
Left Democratic Front . In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the party won theIdukki seat. The party now has two seats in theLok Sabha with the merger of P.C. Thomas's Indian Federal Democratic Party. It is a member of the rulingUnited Progressive Alliance .The party won 2 seats in
2001 Kerala Legislative Assembly polls. It had fielded 6 candidates ahead of the 2006 Assembly elections, and 4 were successful. P J Joseph, the chairman of KC (Joseph) was sworn in as the minister for Public Works.However, ahead of the polls the party suffered yet another split, with P.C. George forming his own Kerala Congress (Secular). The Kerala congress party has its policy dictated by the Christian clergy and is wedded to the notion of well being and commercial interests of the minority Christians of the state. One of the major highlights of the party has been to legitimise the illegal occupation of forest land by the Christian settlers by providing them pattayam.References
External links
* [http://www.kcj.in Kerala Congress official blog]
* [http://www.keralacongress.com Kerala Congress Portal]
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