THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the newly formed K C Venugopal-Shafi Parambil axis successfully installed one of their trusted lieutenants as Youth Congress state president, a discontented ‘A’ group, which had held the post for more than a decade, alleged that all the existing political and organisational values were being undermined by the AICC organisational general secretary himself. However, Venugopal loyalists refuted the allegation.
The appointment of O J Janeesh and Binu Chulliyil as president and working president of Youth Congress has deepened the already strained internal conflict in the state Congress, party sources said. “’A’ group nominee Rahul Mamkootathil had won as the president by a margin of 2.29 lakh votes. After his unceremonious exit, the post should have gone to Abin (Varkey) who finished second in the election,” said a Congress leader.
The ‘A’ group has reportedly decided to act against the unilateral decision. Though Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and KPCC president Sunny Joseph have termed the appointment “a decision of Youth Congress national leadership, the ‘A’ group has refused to buy the argument. The group leaders held hectic parleys after their nominee K M Abhijith was denied the state presidentship.
“Till now, whenever we were subjected to humiliation organisationlly, we suffered quietly for the sake of the party and chose a path of consensus as we are sitting on the opposition benches for the second consecutive term,” an ‘A’ group leader said. “However, they took us for granted. Now we will respond at an appropriate time. The repercussions could be felt both in the Youth Congress and the party.”
Though the ‘I’ group is also unhappy with the development, its nominee Abin, after his sharp response on Tuesday morning, has decided to fall in line. However, both ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups see the new development as Venugopal tightening his grip in the state politics ahead of assembly elections.
After the Mamkootathil episode, he and Shafi are gravitating towards Venugopal. Ever since he came out openly against Mamkoottathil, Satheesan’s control over the party is steadily waning. Multiple Congress sources told TNIE that the Venugopal group has sensed its chances and is eager to seize control of the organisation.