The warnings issued by none other than party president Sonia Gandhi to end the group war not withstanding, the feud between ‘I’ and ‘A’ factions in the Congress state unit resurfaced on Wednesday. Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan became the prime target of the opponents within the party once again in today’s show.
The ‘I’ group has decided to lodge a complaint with the party high command against him, pointing out that he was colluding with the Opposition LDF and the CPM through his many acts and was misusing the Home portfolio to corner leaders of the rival faction within the party.
Rattled by the war of attrition crossing the limits, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala clamped a strict bar on airing statements in public.
The immediate provocation of the ‘I’ faction against Thiruvanchoor is an ongoing Vigilance raid ordered by him in State Consumerfed godowns and offices, coming under Cooperation Minister C N Balakrishnan.
The Minister is identified with the ‘I’ faction and Consumerfed is headed by Joy Thomas, again from the same group.
It is alleged that the raid was masterminded by the Home Minister to tarnish the image of C N Balakrishnan and the latter was not informed about the action.
Thiruvanchoor stood ground and said that he would call off the raids “if the leadership asked to stop it and the corruption charges in the Consumerfed needn’t be investigated.’’
KPCC treasurer Karakulam Krishna Pillai came out openly against the Home Minister.
“I am not saying that the he is acting on the basis of group. But Thiruvanchoor is not one who has fallen from the skies,” he said.
However, Co-operation Minister C N Balakrishnan exercised restraint. “As a minister, the Chief Minister is my administrative head. I have conveyed my opinion on the raids in Consumerfed to him. I will do nothing which will create difficulties for him,” Balakrishnan maintained. The intervention of Ramesh, despite leading the ‘I’ faction, barring the statements of leaders came after KPCC vice-president M M Hassan and K Muraleedharan MLA locked horns over the latter’s comments based on the High Court observations while dealing with the Salim Raj case on Tuesday.
“The statements are being viewed seriously. Strict action will be initiated against those who are damaging the party through their statements, when the party is concentrating on how to perform well in the nearing Lok Sabha elections,’’ Ramesh said. Hassan, a votary of the ‘A’ group and a staunch Chandy loyalist, had stated that it was the statements of Muraleedharan which were blurring the image of the government than the Opposition campaign. Came the instant response from Muraleedharan.