Veteran leader K Karunakaran is all set to return to Congress with party chief Sonia Gandhi apparently giving her green signal to his re-entry after the party's Kerala leadership informed her that it was not opposed to the idea.
Sources said the veteran leader, who had left Congress two years ago after challenging Gandhi's leadership, will be in the capital soon to have a discussion with Sonia.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala and Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy discussed in detail various aspects of the former chief minister's return to the party when they met Sonia in New Delhi on Thursday morning.
"We are not against anybody returning to the party. However, a decision in this regard has to be taken by Sonia Gandhi and the Congress high command," Chennithala told media persons after the meeting.
Karunakaran had left the party because of differences with Sonia and the central leadership. So a decision on his re-entry has to be taken by the high command, he said, adding that any decision in this regard was acceptable to the state unit.
The veteran leader, who parted ways with the Congress two years ago after openly challenging the leadership of Sonia, has already written to the All India Congress Committee president expressing his desire to return to the party.
Chennithala parried questions on how Karunakaran would be accommodated in the party but said he will get a fair treatment.
Karunakaran had left Congress in 2005 in the wake of bitter factional feud and floated his own outfit Democratic Indira Congress (Kerala), which a year back merged with the Nationalist Congress Party after it failed to make a breakthrough in Kerala's bipolar politics.
