Thiruvananthapuram: The new KPCC president, Mr Mullapally Ramachandran MP, 73, has declared his intention to fight tooth and nail the CPM and the BJP which were aiming to annihilate the Congress party.

Addressing a packed gathering at the Rajiv Gandhi auditorium in Indira Bhavan here, where he took over from his predecessor M.M. Hassan on Thursday, he gave a clarion call to the party workers to teach a lesson to the CPM, which had planned to bury the Congress, and the BJP, which wanted a Congress-free country.





The premises of the venue, which can accommodate only 300 people, were overcrowded with over 2,000 supporters who came from different parts of the state to greet the new PCC chief who apparently does not belong to any group. The newly-appointed working presidents, M. I. Shanavas MP, K. Sudhakaran and Kodikunnil Suresh MP, KPCC election campaign committee chairman K. Muraleedharan, MLA, and UDF convener Benny Behanan also assumed charge on the occasion.

When Mr Mullapally entered the auditorium, the hall reverberated with slogans like, “Leader Mullapally, lead the party with courage, you have the smell of jasmine, we are with you.”

Mr Mullapally, who was overwhelmed by the warm response from the party workers, said the Congress was determined to oust the Modi government from power and that party president Rahul Gandhi had already declared a war against the fascist forces.