THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just four months into V D Satheesan’s tenure, an internal Congress rift has emerged as the first major challenge to the UDF government, with simmering resentment now exposing new battlelines within the party.
UDF convener Adoor Prakash’s open questioning of Satheesan is being viewed as part of a bigger move, targeting the CM. A prominent section within the party and the government, especially those who owe allegiance to AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, has been unhappy with the unilateral manner in which decisions are being taken. Senior leader and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, too, is apparently maintaining a distance.
What UDF convener Adoor Prakash expressed was a general sentiment within the party, said a Political Affairs Committee member. No discussions are being held within the party, he said with an apparent reference to the Indian Union Muslim League bagging a sixth cabinet rank.
“What the convener said out loud, is something Congress workers have been feeling for some time now. The Congress, with 63 MLAs, has surrendered all Cabinet rank posts to UDF partners. No discussions were held within either the party or the UDF. In fact many senior Congress leaders were under the impression that the party would get at least one cabinet rank post,” he said.
Notably, Venugopal has maintained a studied silence over inner-party issues. Some leaders have already demanded KC’s direct intervention in party affairs. “The state party leadership seems more or less dysfunctional.
Both KPCC president and Youth Congress president are ministers, and not keen to look into party work,” pointed out a leader. The organisational weakness is evident in the manner in which the Congress is taking on the LDF, he pointed out.
There are differences in the party over the ongoing protests too. Back-to-back instances of protests against ministers will be interpreted as law and order failure, observed a leader.
“It’s as if we are unable to protect our own ministers. Ideally the protest against the Union home minister - who was here to attend a non-political event along with the CM - should have been avoided,” said another leader.
A section of leaders still support Satheesan. “The UDF convener should have avoided such an open dissent. It’s more like weaponising the Opposition,” felt a veteran leader.
P J Joseph, Kappan next in line for cabinet posts
Close on the heels of granting Cabinet posts to M K Muneer and G Devarajan, the government is set to go ahead with two more cabinet rank appointments.
While Kerala Congress veteran P J Joseph is more or less confirmed to become chairman of the State Elderly Commission, Kerala Democratic Party is hopeful of bagging Norka-Roots vice chairmanship for Mani C Kappan who was earlier denied ministership.
A decision would be taken only after looking into the court verdict and further developments in the cheque case against him. However, in view of Adoor Prakash’s open criticism, decisions on new cabinet ranks would be taken only after discussions in the UDF.