KOCHI: District Congress Committee’s move to bring a major reshuffle in the standing committee seats ahead of initiating a change of guard in the corporation faced a jolt as most of the Congress councillors decided to turn down the directive.It was on Monday that DCC president T J Vinodh asked the Congress councillors to step down from the standing committee posts before November 23. Standing committee chairpersons K V P Krishnakumar (tax appeal), A B Sabu (welfare), Gracy Joseph (development) and Shiny Mathew (town planning) also received the letter from the DCC president.
However, most of the councillors decided to turn down the directive as they said there was no agreement on sharing the standing committee seats after two and a half years. “We will not resign from the post. The decision to bring a major rejig is a part of the drama to satisfy some Congress leaders. If there was an agreement, we don’t have an issue in resigning from the post. But, so far, there is no agreement. If the leaders had an agreement, the chairpersons should have been informed. At present, there is no need for any leadership change in the corporation,” said a chairperson.
It learnt that Shiny, a mayor candidate, will only submit the resignation on November 23. However, the corporation secretary, who is out of station, will be back on November 25. Meanwhile, the welfare standing committee chairperson Sabu and works standing committee chairperson P M Harris are on a foreign trip. Even the mayor is also on a personal trip to north India. “The standing committee chairpersons will convene a meeting in this regard. It is not possible to leave all responsibilities in one day.
We have some commitments towards the public. If we resign from the post, it will create more issues. We will not resign on or before November 23,” said a chairperson.Meanwhile, Opposition leader K J Antony alleged the corporation was disoriented with the standing committee chairpersons and the Mayor going on trips. “When the councillors or Mayor goes on a trip, the council should be informed. Kochi residents are going through a rough patch due to bad roads and other issues. If the councillors do not resign on November 23, the opposition will unleash a protest,” he said.