The match is headed for a decider. The ball back in the court of the Congress High Command, a final round is expected to draw the curtains on the ongoing joust over the induction of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala into the Oommen Chandy Cabinet.
Veteran Congressman and Union Defence Minister A K Antony is going to be referee, having donned the mediator's garb. The Kerala crisis has thus narrowed down to four key players—Sonia Gandhi, Antony, Chandy and Chennithala.
Meanwhile, both Chandy and Chennithala have conveyed the details of their recent meetings to Congress general secretary in-charge of Kerala affairs Madhusudan Mistry. Antony, after his return from a foreign jaunt met Sonia Gandhi and apprised her about the latest situation in the state. Prior to that, Antony had a chat over phone with Chandy, Chennithala and a few of his confidantes in the state.
However, an easy end seems unlikely as the key players are not ready to retreat from their avowed positions. The matter had to escalated again to the high command since several rounds of discussions between Chandy and Chennithala failed to reach a solution acceptable to both. The last round of talks was held against the backdrop of Chandy’s consultations with the high command.
Chandy expressed his constraints over allotting the plum Home and Vigilance portfolios. Chennithala and supporters on their part were adamant that nothing less than the Home and Vigilance portfolios were acceptable, especially after the deputy CM’s post was ticked off, at the end of Chandy’s talks with Sonia Gandhi. As a matter of prestige, the general view in the ‘I’ camp led by Chennithala is there should be no more surrender in front of the ‘A’ group, headed by Chandy and no more talks with him. Moreover, the near sweep of the ‘A’ group in the recent Youth Congress polls have only added to the jitters of the ‘I’ group.