Government chief whip P C George found himself more and more isolated in the Kerala Congress (M) on Thursday, even as he made a vain bid to explain his position to party supremo and Finance Minister K M Mani through a letter.
Without lending an ear, Mani curtly asked George through a public statement to avoid personal attacks against leaders and reminded that public men should engage themselves in political work only with mutual respect and decorum.
Mani is reportedly in constant touch with P J Joseph and other leaders as issues connected with George snowballing into a big headache for the regional outfit with each passing day. The high-power committee of the party is slated to meet in a few days.
Those baying for the blood of George have gone up as never before, with all sections in the Kerala Congress turning against him, after his latest spat against the Joseph group leaders.
Mani turned down the stand of George on the number of Lok Sabha seats which the Kerala Congress is entitled to, terming the controversial Government chief whip’s statement “irrelevant”.
“Issues related to the party should be discussed in appropriate forums and not in public. The party will take an appropriate decision on Lok Sabha seats at the appropriate time,” Mani maintained.
However, George stuck to his stand that the party need to look forward only for a single Lok Sabha seat, on the premise that the UPA needs more MPs.
Pressure is mounting from P J Joseph and supporters, including MLAs, for stern action against George for tarnishing the image of leaders through irresponsible and defamatory statements levelled on Wednesday. Notably, George had already antagonised all sections of the Congress also.
KPCC vice-president M M Hassan reiterated his demand that George shall be removed from the Government Chief Whip post. P J Joseph and team are hell bent in stripping George from the posts of party vicechairman also, apart from barring him as a representative of the party to attend UDF meets.