KOTTAYAM: Jose K Mani suffered a major jolt a day after the Kerala Congress (M) state committee meeting called by his faction had elected him as the new party chairman. As the legal battle commenced as expected, the rival PJ Joseph faction on Monday secured a court order preventing Jose from officiating as chairman and discharging functions and powers attached to the office.
Followers of Jose, on their part, commenced the counter move to legally establish him as the new chairman by sending a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI), intimating them on the election. With both sides taking to the legal path in their attempt to wield power, a settlement on the matter is expected to be delayed.
The Thodupuzha Munsiff Court passed an injunction order against the election of Jose on the basis of a prayer submitted by Philip Stephen and Manohar Naduviladath, both state committee members from Idukki owing allegiance to Joseph.
According to Manohar, the court admitted the prayer to pass a temporary prohibitory injunction restraining Jose from officiating as KC (M) chairman. The complainant also requested to prevent Jose “from discharging any functions and powers attached to the chairman’s office.” A legal expert with Joseph faction said the court “allowed as prayed for”. A formal order will be issued only on Tuesday.
Leaders of Jose faction are considering all legal aspects before making the next move.“We haven’t received the order so far. We’ll discuss the matter with legal experts after getting it. It’s learnt from media reports that the court prevented Jose from taking charge as chairman and sending letters to EC. But Jose had assumed office and sent the letter to the EC even before the court considered the petition,” said a Jose faction leader.
Jose, who arrived at the party office on Monday evening, is of the view that Joseph shall approach the ECI against electing him as the chairman.“A vast majority in the state committee unanimously elected me as the chairman. If anyone has any difference of opinion, he should lodge a complaint with ECI and let it take a decision over it,” Jose told reporters.
Apart from securing a favourable court order, Joseph has been moving ahead with strategic steps by trying to bring C F Thomas, MLA, who is extremely unhappy with developments with regard to Jose’s election as chairman, into his fold. Joseph and his close aide Mons Joseph held discussions with Thomas in Thiruvananthapuram on the sidelines of the Assembly meeting.
Thomas played it down by describing it as a casual meeting related to assembly matters, but it assumes significance as Thomas has not declared allegiance to either faction. The veteran leader had said he would continue with official KC (M). Meanwhile, the Jose faction decided not to oppose Joseph continuing as parliamentary party leader. “There’s no change in any position or function other than that of party chairman,” said Roshy Augustine, MLA.
COURT ORDER
Thodupuzha Muncif Court passed a temporary prohibitory injunction restraining Jose from officiating as KC (M) chairman
According to the complainant, it also prevented him from discharging any functions and powers attached to the KC (M) chairman’s office including:
Kerala Congress is a single party: P J Joseph
T’puram: Kerala Congress (M) parliamentary party leader P J Joseph while staging a walkout from the state assembly session on Monday said Kerala Congress (M) is a single party. He was responding to a remark made by CPM legislator A Pradeep Kumar as to which party Joseph was representing. Joseph also said he did not wish to speak regarding any other political matters related to Kerala Congress (M). Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said the new developments in the Kerala Congress (M) had not come in front of the House and that there was no need to discuss the subject. However, all five Kerala Congress (M) legislators -- P J Joseph, C F Thomas, Mons Joseph, N Jayaraj and Roshy Augustine -- came out of the House together during the walkout.