Legal notice served on newspaper

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Congress (Mani) MLAs P C George and N Jayaraj have served legal notice on a midday newspaper which allegedly carried a defamatory news item against him.P C George told reporters here on Wednesday that the news that he, along with N Jayaraj and another MLA, had secretly met Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan was totally fabricated with not even a fraction of truth in it. He said that such a news item, especially when it appears on the eve of the Speaker's election and while the government was surviving on a slender majority, would sent a wrong message to society. The MLAs demanded that the newspaper should either express regret within seven days or face civil and criminal proceedings.The news item published the other day stated that P C George and N Jayaraj, along with another MLA, had held talks with the Opposition Leader.George said that he had never demanded ministerial berth and would be happy if the Indian Union Muslim League was given the fifth ministerial berth. He said that he would be happier if Manjalamkuzhi Ali was given an opportunity to become a minister. George said that he had never demanded the post of Deputy Speaker. "The Deputy Speaker will not get an opportunity to speak and it would be very difficult for a person like me,'' he said.