KOTTAYAM: Decks have been cleared for another experiment in the fold of Kerala Congress with the Kerala Congress (Secular), led by P C George MLA, submitting itself for a merger with the bigger and stronger Kerala Congress faction, led by K M Mani MLA.
The KC (S) meeting here on Friday has resolved to go in for a merger with the KC (M).
A seven-member committee has also been constituted to formalise the merger, which is expected to take place in the first week of November. After being thrown out of the LDF, the KC (S) strived hard for a year to unify the pro-UDF Kerala Congress factions led by K M Mani, T M Jacob and R Balakrishna Pillai and find a place in the new combination, but the attempts failed to bear fruit.
“Under the present circumstances, a merger with the Kerala Congress (Pillai) or the one led by Jacob is not possible,” P C George told mediapersons here on Friday after the meeting. “The sea will not merge in a river.
Only a river can merge in a sea,” justifying the unification effort, George said that the moves for a unified Kerala Congress would continue.
To a query, George said that the merger decision is not tagged with any political ambition in the new scenario. The Mani faction is expected to respond positively and to show political decency in this regard, he hoped.
The leadership conclave of the KC (S) in the presence of its state leaders and district presidents was a tame affair which lasted for 15 minutes. Party chairman T S John announced the merger decision and P C George gave an explanation in detail.
It is understood that K M Mani gave the nod to George and his supporters to come into the fold of the KC (M) after getting convinced that the rank and file of both the outfits in the central Travancore belt, especially in Meenachil taluk, have gelled over a period of a few months.
George had worked overtime in his areas of influence in the Poonjaar assembly segment to ensure a handsome margin for Jose K Mani MP, the political heir and the only son of K M Mani, in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Moreover, George, who has a track record of church leaders’ baiting while in the Left camp, has recently transformed as the darling of the Church. Thanks to his unstinted support and lung-power to the Church on issues such as the self-financing education sector imbroglio. The Kerala Congress (M) is expected to formally respond to the decision of the KC (Secular) and the party state secretariat will approve it shortly. The merger meet is tentatively fixed for November 1, it is reliably learnt.