TRIVANDRUM, 10 November 2003 — Senior Kerala leader K. Karunakaran appeared preparing for the final battle with Congress President Sonia Gandhi as he blamed her of being surrounded by a coterie and asked her to come out of her shell.

The former chief minister said he could not predict if the party would split after the Nov. 19 rally of his loyalists in Cochin and it was too late for the high command to act.

Hinting at a possible tie-up with leaders like Sharad Pawar, expelled for challenging Gandhi’s authority, he said he was consulting with the ‘national leaders’ on his next move.

“I am a born Congressman and I want to die as one. But If I am pushed to the wall, what can I do? If the present Chief Minister (A. K. Antony) continues, anything can happen in Kerala,” Hindustan Times quoted him as saying in an interview yesterday.

Recalling his relations with three generations of leadership of Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the senior leader said the party was fast losing its image and its inherent strength under Sonia.

“She has to dump this coterie sooner or later. She has to come out of her shell. I still have confidence that she will realize this soon,” he said.

Blaming Sonia for not being impartial, Karunakaran said: “Here, only Antony is heard. The high command is dancing to his tunes. If it needs only Antony, what are we doing here?”

Karunakaran claimed the allies have started coming out openly against Antony. Ferry Service to Colombo From Dec. 1

Kerala yesterday inked a pact with the Golden Cruiseline of Sri Lanka to operate ferry services linking Colombo with the southern state’s capital Trivandrum from Dec. 1.

Kerala Transport Minister R. Balakrishna Pillai said there would be four services a week to the Vizhinjam port near here carrying 500 passengers on each cruise.

The vessels match the standards set by the International Maritime Organization, of which India is a signatory. The six-hour journey will cost less than 2,000 rupees.

Indians traveling to the island nation will get their visas on arrival in Colombo.