April 7, 2001 - Veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran quits the party'sworking committee in protest against the denial of a seat to his daughterPadmaja Venugopal for the Assembly elections. Karunakaran alleges neglect of hisgroup -- citing the allocation of 40 seats by the party high command to archrival A.K. Antony's loyalists, compared to 34 seats allotted to his supporters.
Karunakaran says he would not withdraw the resignation under anycircumstances.
April 8 - All India Congress Committee (AICC) rejects Karunakaran'sresignation with party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad saying there is noquestion of accepting the resignation.
Karunakaran refuses to compromise and repeats his list of demands whichinclude allocation of seven more seats for his faction leaders, appointment ofhis son and Member of Parliament, K. Muraleedharan, as president of the KeralaCongress Pradesh Committee and Antony not to be projected as chief ministerialcandidate of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
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Congress high command deputes Ambika Soni, a confidante of Sonia Gandhi, topacify Karunakaran.
April 9 - Congress leadership decides against sending Ambika Soni afterKarunakaran's supporters announce they would not allow entry to any centralleader into the state. The move is also interpreted as Sonia Gandhi'sunwillingness to accept Karunakaran's demands.
April 10 - The feud worsens with Antony stating that the party highcommand could not accept Karunakaran's demands any more. Antony says he is notready for a compromise as Karunakaran's "demands are impossible to meet atthis juncture".
April 12 - Karunakaran issues a veiled threat to put up rebel candidates.Claims his statement on the need for unity among the groups had not beenhighlighted but that instead his remarks on not being "fullysatisfied" with the AICC had been "blown up".
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Congress announces that senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Motilal Vorawould go to Trivandrum to pacify the former chief minister.
April 13 - Congress general secretaries, Motilal Vora and Ghulam NabiAzad claim "most issues" being sorted out after holding talks withKarunakaran and Antony.
April 17 - Karunakaran welcomes the high command's decision to allotthree more seats to his group but says he is undecided on taking back hisresignation from the CWC.
April 25 - Karunakaran withdraws resignation from CWC after meeting SoniaGandhi.
Kerala Congress (B) chief R Balakrishna Pillai’s nomination papers to hisnative Kottarakara seat in Kollam district accepted despite fears of beingrejected.
April 26 – UDF releases manifesto with promises of employment in theagricultural and industrial sectors and a revival of the economy.
April 27 - KPCC expels four members after they file their papers asrebels -- Cherian Philip, Baby M Varghese, M A Wahid and K P Shaukat Ali.
BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy and general secretary Narendra Modi addressrallies in different parts of the state.
April 28 – Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader S.M. Krishnajoins UDF campaign
A.K. Antony attends the opening of Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja’sstudio.
April 29 – The Democratic Parliamentary Forum (DPF) of ninesingle-party and Independent members of Lok Sabha, with Kerala Congress (M) MP,P C Thomas as convenor is formed.
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Senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Railways, O Rajagopal,dismisses allegations of BJP-UDF tie-up.
April 30 - AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad announces in Kochithat UDF chief ministerial candidate will be decided by Congress president SoniaGandhi after the May 10 Assembly elections in the State.
May 1 – Sonia hits the campain trail. Addressing a rally at theSultan Bathery St Mary’s College Ground in Wayanad, accuses the LDF of havingdestroyed peace in the state and of putting Kerala behind other states in allaspects of development.
May 2 – Sonia denies any truck with BJP.
Officials seize campaign posters of Assembly Speaker and LDF's Thriuvanathapuram North candidate M.K. Vijayakumar while they were being taken out of the press of state-owned Audio-Visual and Reprographics Centre. Vijayaraghavan says it's a conspiracy.
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The High Court accepts a writ petition filed against the election commission for removing the names of two lakh voters from the voters list. This was done following an EC order to remove the names of the dead and those who were not currently residents of Kerala.
May 4 - Caught in fierce contests, candidates in constituencies having substantial number of people working in the Middle East, have campaigns going there, to woo NRIs and their dependants in the state. Many candidates went and campaigned there before the election notification.
May 7 - Prime Minister Vajpayee says in Trivandrum the results of the Assembly polls would not affect the stability of the NDA government at the Centre. He says it would be wrong to perceive the elections as a referendum on the performance of the government.
