THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a surprising development, Congress national general secretary K C Venugopal is learnt to have disowned two of his most ardent supporters in Kerala, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and state party chief K Sudhakaran, over the controversial appointment of Congress block presidents.
Both Satheesan and Sudhakaran had ignored Venugopal’s directive that they should consult former state Congress presidents before announcing the list of block presidents, a party source told TNIE. This has enraged Venugopal, who has decided to let the duo take the heat generated by their own actions.
“There are scores of disgruntled leaders who are maintaining a stoic silence on the autocratic style of functioning of the state leadership,” the source said. Meanwhile, the war of words between the feuding factions within the state Congress continued on Sunday with the party national general secretary in charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, scheduled to arrive in Kochi on Monday.
Sudhakaran did not mince words against the senior leaders who parleyed against the leadership, while the dissident group trained guns on Anwar, saying “he is not the Congress high command.” Anwar is scheduled to attend the orientation camp for the newly appointed block presidents at Aluva Edathala Santhigiri Camp Centre.
He also plans to meet the senior dissident leaders in a one-on-one session. But it will not be surprising if they boycott the meeting. On Sunday, Sudhakaran lashed out at the factional leaders saying “they have enjoyed the pleasures of life and now creating a rift in the party.”
Tariq Anwar not the final word: Hassan
“It is really unfortunate that the seniormost leaders of the party were huddled together. When the party should be working unitedly in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, they are sending a wrong message to the party workers,” a source close to Sudhakaran said.
UDF convener M M Hassan did not have any qualms in snubbing Anwar during a press conference at Indira Bhavan. “Tariq Anwar is not the Congress high command. He’s not the final word,” he said.