Jose K Mani elected chairman, legal battle looms large
KOTTAYAM: The tussle in the Kerala Congress (M) took a new turn on Sunday after the state committee called by the faction led by Jose K Mani unanimously elected him as its new chairman.With the party’s acting chairman and rival group leader P J Joseph dismissing it as a rebellious move, a legal battle is likely to secure the party’s official title and symbol (two leaves).
Addressing a meeting, Jose promised to work hard to lead the party on the path shown by his
father K M Mani. Interestingly, he neither spoke politics nor mentioned anything about Joseph. He even remained silent on political matters while talking to the reporters later.
“I’ll lead the organisation which has a history of five decades with more zeal and vigour. I’ll continue to lead the party’s fights, highlighting the issues of farmers and working class. My activities will be centred on strengthening the KC (M) and UDF,” Jose said.
Responding to a query on electing the parliamentary party leader, Jose said KC (M) will move ahead united and other things will be decided after discussions.
Apart from Joseph and his close aide Mons Joseph, C F Thomas, MLA, also skipped the meeting. Meanwhile, MLAs belonging to Mani faction — Roshy Augustine, N Jayaraj, Thomas Chazhikadan, MP, senior leaders Joseph M Puthusseri, P T Jose and others were present at the meeting.Thomas Unniyadan, Arakkal Balakrishna Pillai, Ponnachan Kottarakkara, Victor T Thomas and Youth Front (M) state president Sanji Manjakadambil did not turn up.
Joseph, meanwhile, said the meeting was sheer violation of the party constitution.“The election of Jose as chairman is illegal. As per Rule 29 of the party constitution, all duties and responsibilities of the party chairman are now vested with the working chairman.
“As per this, only the chairman has the authority to convene the state committee meeting, that too by serving notice at least 10 days prior to the event. But in this case, the members were found to have been intimated only through messages over phone. Many of the members haven’t received even that either,” he said.Joseph also accused Jose for deliberately skipping reconciliation talks.
With Jose K Mani getting elected as new chairman of KC(M)in a state committee meet convened by Jose faction members on Sunday, KC(M) is heading for a legal battle for the claim of the party’s title and symbol. With P J Joseph terming Jose’s election illegal as per the party constitution, it is certain the dispute will be taken to the Election Commission (EC) to establish the official faction.
Legal experts said Jose faction will have to approach the EC to get its approval for Sunday’s election proceedings as the meeting was convened without the permission of party’s acting chairman Joseph. “As per the prevailing documents with EC, Joseph is the acting chairman and parliamentary party leader following the demise of K M Mani, who held both the positions till his death. Now, KC (M) is forced to establish before EC the party elected a new chairman. It also needs to convince EC about the situation and the procedure through which the new chairman has been elected,” said a legal expert.
Moreover, with Pala by-election inching closer, the Jose faction must get recognition from ECI to decide the party’s candidate. Meanwhile, Joseph only needs to defend the arguments of the Jose faction as they are still the official title holder of the party. If a dispute comes up before EC, both sides are likely to be directed to prove their claims before EC. In such a situation, EC is likely to consider its order in the dispute in the Samajwadi Party between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav as precedence while taking a decision.
As per EC order in the Samajwadi Party dispute, the faction which holds a majority in the Legislative and organisational wing of the party will be entitled to use the party name and its reserved ‘symbol’. With two MPs and two MLAs in its fold and 80 per cent majority in the state committee, it seems to be easy for Jose to secure a favourable order from EC. However, the EC order will be depending on the documents submitted before it and based on the arguments of both the sides.
Short takes
Jose K Mani faction leaders claimed the presence of 312 in the 450-member state committee meeting
The meeting lasted 30 minutes
Senior leader E J Augusthy recommended Jose to the post
P K Sajeev, Thomas Joseph and Vazhut-hanath Balach-andran seconded