KOCHI:The ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions of the Congress are waiting for the DCC to intervene in the ongoing factional feud in the Kalamassery Municipality over the transfer of posts and the appointment of Rukhiya Jamal, wife of former Kalamassery Municipal chairperson Jamal Manakadan, as chairperson.
In a meeting organised by the ‘A’ faction, including the chairperson and the councillors, on Monday, they proposed that the resigned ‘I’ faction standing committee chairpersons take over their posts to make the further decisions regarding the appointment of Rukhiya.
“We are not against sharing posts,” said Jessy Peter, chairperson, Kalamassery Municipality. Last month, the three standing committee chairpersons had resigned their posts alleging that the ‘A’ group members were not willing to hand over their posts of municipal chairman and standing committee chairman after a 2.5-year tenure, as per the earlier agreement with the ‘I’ faction.
The Kalamassery Municipal chairperson refuted the allegations. “We have not refused the post to anyone, but the KPCC must look into the vested interests of certain people who want to benefit from the appointment of Rukhiya,” said Jessy. The ‘A’ group alleges the KPCC is not playing by the rules, regarding the appointment of the chairperson, as mentioned in the circular. “There was no need of a circular if the mentioned rules were not to be followed. Presently, the KPCC is favouring the vested interests of certain people in the group,” said Jessy.
According to the ‘A’ faction, the KPCC clearly stated the chairman or other senior posts should not be allocated to the spouse of former chairpersons or presidents of local bodies. It also stated a first appointed councillor should be considered for top posts only if there is no senior leader or person holding official posts in the party.
“It is the clear violation by the KPCC notwithstanding the rules that are framed by the party. Rules cannot be bend for certain people,” said a councillor in the ‘A’ group. Regarding the proposal by the ‘A’ group, the resigned standing committee chairpersons, including Shajahan Kadappally and Sulfath Ismayil, said they were ignorant about any such decisions made in the group.
“We were not informed of any such decisions made by the party. The DCC has not announced any meetings, the decisions will be made once the party meeting is over,” said Sulfath. Though Express repeatedly contacted DCC president T J Vinod, he did not respond.