KOCHI: The prolonged delay in appointing the new Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president is making the party workers restless and any further delay would affect the party’s preparation for the next year’s Lok Sabha elections, they say.
“Either the Congress High Command should allow M M Hassan to continue as the KPCC president, or the party leadership should immediately announce the name of the new president,” said a senior Congress leader, who wished not to be named.
Hassan was appointed the interim KPCC president on March 25, 2017 following the surprise resignation by V M Sudheeran earlier that month. However, even more than a year later, Hassan continues as ‘interim’ KPCC chief as the Congress High Commands keeps postponing the appointment of the new president.
“It’s really disappointing that the party leadership can’t find enough time to resolve the issue and appoint the new president,” said another senior leader, adding that the grand old party in Kerala needs to find time to discuss the strategies for the ensuing general elections. “A big issue will be the selection of the probable candidates for the Parliament elections. There is also the big issue of doing the hard bargaining with UDF allies for the constituencies, the number of seats they will contest etc.,” he said.
While the name of Mullapally Ramachandran, MP, is the top contender to lead the party in the state, other names including K V Thomas, the Ernakulam MP, and Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, are also doing the rounds.
The appointment of KPCC president has been getting postponed, citing one reason or the other for the last 5-6 months.
When the ball was set in motion early this year, the Karnataka election dates were announced, forcing the leadership to put off the Kerala affairs to after the elections, a leader said. After the Karnataka elections, things began to move, but then suddenly the Election Commission announced the date for Chengannur by-election, forcing the High Command to postpone the decision again. “At that time it was felt that it would do more harm than good to announce a new KPCC chief,” the Congress leader explained.
It’s more than one-and-half months since the Chengannur results, yet there is no movement as far as the appointment of the new KPCC chief. “Initial level discussions have begun,” said one leader.
Asked if one or two working presidents will also be appointed along with the new KPCC chief, a senior leader said such measures, if at all made, should be seen only as an “accommodative step” to give representation to various factions and groups in the state. In states such as Karnataka, Gujarat and recently in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress has experimented with the working presidents model.