KOTTAYAM: In the wake of immense pressure from the Catholic Church hierarchy, Jose K Mani and P J Joseph factions are likely to hold an informal meeting of their Parliamentary Party members in a couple of days to resolve the issues between them. The development follows the latest initiative undertaken by a prominent bishop of one of the Roman Catholic denominations.
While P J Joseph and Mons Joseph had met this bishop the other day, Jose will soon contact the bishop as part of convening an informal meeting to discuss the various formulae with regard to restructuring at the helm of Kerala Congress(M) following the demise of K M Mani. Earlier, Jose, Joseph and KC(M) deputy chairman C F Thomas sat together in the presence of three bishops and prominent figures of the Church hierarchy for preliminary talks on the issue.
Though the three leaders agreed to convene an unofficial meeting of Parliamentary Party members the previous Friday as per the suggestion made by Jose, it did not materialise following a provocative comment from Joseph on the day the meeting was scheduled to take place at a hotel in Kottayam.
With the chasm between two groups widening, a priest, who played a major role in the merger of K M Mani and Joseph factions is believed to have taken upon himself the mantle of ensuring peace between rival groups. Following the intervention by the priest and the bishops, Joseph stepped back from the adamant stance on his claim for the post of chairman. He also desisted from issuing provocative statements.
In the meantime, Jose faction wants to resolve the impasse sooner than later as the byelection for Pala Assembly constituency is fast nearing. Jose faction badly wants to get the chairman’s post before the election notification is issued, since it is essential for them to freely decide the candidate for the constituency.