KOTTAYAM: As part of completing its organisational election process, a state committee meeting of the Kerala Congress on Tuesday re-elected P J Joseph as chairman and P C Thomas as working chairman. The party also reconstituted its state committee and appointed Mons Joseph as executive chairman, Joy Abraham as secretary general and office in- charge, T U Kuruvila as chief coordinator, Francis George, and Thomas Unniyadan as deputy chairmen in various positions. Joseph was entrusted with filling the vacancy of a deputy chairman post left by Johnny Nellore, who resigned from the party to form a new political group.
The state committee now includes 14 vice chairpersons, with the addition of E J Augusthy and Gresamma Mathew. It also consists of three state advisors and two senior general secretaries. Following the meeting, Joseph expressed his disappointment with the Congress leadership’s statements about bringing back the Kerala Congress (M) to the UDF fold. “UDF in Kerala is strong now.
The recent reactions are as if some leaders of the UDF do not understand the strength of their front. Such responses came at an inappropriate time, which wouldn’t auger well for the UDF. There has been no discussion in the UDF about the return of parties who left the UDF to join the Left. When such issues come up in the UDF, Kerala Congress would record its opinion at an appropriate time,” Joseph said. “It will be better for the UDF to avoid unnecessary statements, which may create a feeling that it is walking behind other parties because the coalition as such is not strong enough,” he added.