KOCHI: After the block-level rejig, the group equations in the Congress state unit have changed drastically with the once-warring ‘I’ and ‘A’ factions joining hands to counter the new axis of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, state Congress president K Sudhakaran and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.
The ‘A’ faction has decided to collaborate with the ‘I’ faction, which has also been sidelined during the revamp process, and leaders of both factions held a joint meeting at the state capital on Friday. At this juncture, former leader of Opposition and senior ‘I’ group leader Ramesh Chennithala has emerged as the crucial player acceptable for both factions, it is learnt. When the rift-related to the appointments of block presidents escalated, Sudhakaran first held talks with Chennithala to settle the issue, indicating that he is one to reckon with, sources pointed out.
Though Sudhakaran later met M M Hassan, a prominent ‘A’ group leader, it will be Chennithala who will meet the Congress national leadership to convey the sentiments aired by both factions in the coming days. Both ‘I’ and ‘A’ groups are of the view that Satheesan and Sudhakaran are ignoring senior leaders and functioning in an autocratic way.
‘A’ group, which suffered a big jolt in the revamp, is handicapped by the absence of veteran leader Oommen Chandy, who’s staying away from an active leadership role due to ill health. The fact that there’s no second-line leadership in ‘A’ faction and desertion by second-generation leaders including MLAs T Siddique, and Shafi Parambil, are also forcing the group to come closer to the ‘I’ camp to jointly take up their grievances. Both Siddique and Shafi, who were mentored by Oommen Chandy, are now showing allegiance towards the Satheesan camp. Both factions fear that Satheesan may hijack the state unit by totally sidelining senior leaders.
Former minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, a close confidant of Oommen Chandy and a member of the ‘A’ faction, is currently not active in group politics after being appointed as the chairman of the disciplinary committee. AICC secretary P C Vishnunath is the only remaining prominent young face in ‘A’ group, but he is hesitant to come to the leadership of the faction.
According to the leaders, the ‘A’ faction needs a strong leader to exert more pressure during the upcoming district-level reorganisation. For the time being, many within the camp have no complaints in getting Chennithala to represent their grievances. The selection of the Youth Congress president candidate is also a litmus test for the ‘A’ faction. While Rahul Mamkootathil, J S Akhil, and K M Abhijith are the nominees of the group, faction managers are trying to find a consensus candidate for the president post.
For the time being, MP Benny Behanan is taking an active role in the ‘A’ faction to fill the void created by Chandy. While other leaders remained hesitant to express their dissatisfaction with the appointment of block committee presidents, Behanan boldly voiced his dissent regarding the sidelining of the ‘A’ group. He even filed a complaint with the party's central leadership regarding the selection of block presidents.
The ‘A’ group has been marginalised in many districts during the revamp, which was jointly carried out by Sudhakaran and Satheesan. Furthermore, their nominees were appointed as presidents in most of the blocks.