Even as the crisis in the Congress over Chandy-Ramesh tussle remains unresolved and the scene of talks was shifted to the floor of high command in New Delhi, the scope of achieving a breakthrough is getting dimmer.
Ramesh is also understood to have made his stand clear to the Congress central leadership that he was not interested to join the two-year-old Oommen Chandy Government in the present circumstances.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi assessed the Kerala developments related to the party on Friday, with Defence Minister A K Antony giving the feedback he had gathered from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala after his foreign trip on Thursday.
He had a half-an-hour meeting with Sonia in the afternoon, indicating that the top leadership was attaching much importance to solving the crisis in the party state unit. However, Antony is continuing with a stand that he would not mediate in between the warring groups, even when interfering in the issue.
A go slow approach is guiding Oommen Chandy and the ‘A’ group also now, making the group resigned to a thought that a Cabinet reshuffle and the coming of Ramesh would have to be put in the freezer for now. The ‘I’ faction is also in no mood to give up the demand for the Home portfolio. Meanwhile, Ramesh is planning to meet the media here on Monday.
‘’I’m mentally prepared,’’ he told ‘Express.’ The bearing the entire developments is going to have on the total functioning of the UDF Government and the forward path of the leading partner Congress has jolted the central leadership.
Sonia has entrusted the task of initiating talks with Chandy and Ramesh with her trusted general secretary Ahmed Patel.
Madhusoodanan Mistry, AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, who will reach New Delhi on Saturday, has also been asked to intervene immediately.
Ramesh and supporters have firmed up their position in the past two days after the failed talks with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on Wednesday night.
It is understood that the KPCC president has presented his case in a passionate manner with the high command, while Chandy also stood ground with a position that the Home portfolio could not be handed over to Ramesh.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan also appeared to give an impression that he was ready to take political offshoots as it comes. ‘’In politics, one cannot remain adamant,’’ he commented at Kottayam in front of the media. ‘’But none has spoken to me to give away the Home portfolio so far,’’ the Minister added.