AICC observer Mukul Wasnik on Thursday said all Congress MLAs in Keralam had unanimously passed a resolution authorising the party president to decide the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the state.
His remarks came after meetings with United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders following the alliance’s decisive victory in the Keralam Assembly elections.
“All Congress MLAs unanimously passed a resolution authorising the Congress President to appoint the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Kerala. Subsequently, we held one-on-one discussions with all the MLAs, trying to understand their thoughts and opinions,” Wasnik told ANI.
He said the observers would now return to Delhi to submit their findings to the party leadership.
“We are now departing for Delhi, where we will submit a detailed report to the Congress President regarding all the discussions that took place here,” he said.
Congress MP K. Suresh said the final decision rested with the party high command.
“I don't know what happened in the meeting. I just came here to see off the observers. They are my good friends. Everything depends upon the High Command. They are taking our opinions collectively and individually. But the final decision has to be taken by the Congress High Command,” Suresh said.
Congress MP Jebi Mather expressed confidence that the high command’s decision would be accepted by the party in Keralam.
“Let them take the message to the High Command. Once the High Command declares its decision, the leaders and workers of Kerala will accept that decision,” she said.
She added, “We have waited for 10 years. Waiting for a few more days is not an issue. The fact that Kerala will have a Congress Chief Minister and a UDF government is the most welcome decision of the people.”
Meanwhile, RSP MP N. K. Premachandran described the discussions as routine consultations on the political situation in the state.
“It was a formal consultation regarding the political situation in Keralam. We have explained our position. It was just a cordial discussion, nothing else. There was no discussion on who should be the leaders or the Chief Minister. I hope that they understood the situation and will take an appropriate decision,” he said.
AICC observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken are expected to submit their report to the Congress president in Delhi, after which the party is likely to take a final call on the CLP leadership in Keralam.
RSP leader Shibu Baby John said, “We exchanged pleasantries on the emphatic win of Congress and discussed the general Kerala political situation.”
The meeting comes amid intense consultations within the Congress after the UDF’s strong performance in Keralam, where the alliance secured 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly, ending the Left Democratic Front’s decade-long rule. The Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the coalition with 63 seats, while the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) won 22 seats.
(With inputs from PTI)