THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With its back to the wall after the NSS openly shunned the long-held equidistance posture and warmed up to the CPM, the Congress leadership is exploring ways to assuage the ruffled feelings of the influential body.
“If there are any lapses on the part of the Congress with regard to the ties with the NSS, the party will definitely address them,” AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal told the TNIE.
Resentment is brewing within the Congress over Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan’s frequent statements, further widening the rift with the NSS. “He has already explained his stand twice. There is no need to cling to a position when everyone knows it failed to protect Congress’s interest,” a senior leader said.
A section of senior leaders feels that a communication gap with the NSS has been persisting for quite some time, necessitating high-level intervention before it is too late. “If there is a communication gap, we will resolve it,” Venugopal said.
He declined to comment when asked whether Congress leaders would visit NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair as part of the mission to reconcile strained ties between the two organisations.
However, Congress insiders said the party leadership is likely send feelers to the NSS supremo ahead of local body elections.
‘Leadership should take all communities into confidence’
Apart from Venugopal, former KPCC presidents K Muraleedharan and Ramesh Chennithala continue to maintain cordial relations with the NSS. Former state Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran also said the party leadership will take the initiative to resolve all issues with the NSS.
It was Satheesan’s remark against leaders of the community organisations that created the first fissures in the party’s long-standing relation with the NSS. “It is the responsibility of the leader of the opposition and KPCC president to take all communities into confidence.
After Karunakaran and Oommen Chandy, it’s Pinarayi Vijayan who is successfully managing social engineering,” a veteran leader said. It is also contended that Satheesan’s apathy, combined with KPCC president Sunny Joseph’s lack of rapport with Hindu community leaders in south Kerala, is harming the Congress.