THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the tug of war within the party, over the closure of non-standard bars, coming out in the open, the Congress High Command restrained Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC president V M Sudheeran from making public comments and asked them to amicably solve the issue at the earliest.
As the party spokesmen themselves had started washing the dirty linen in public, Ahmed Patel, the political secretary of Congress president Sonia Gandhi telephoned Oommen Chandy and V M Sudheeran asking them to refrain from making public comments on the issue.
They were also asked to direct the state leaders from making comments that aggravate the issue.
Party spokespersons M M Hassan and Rajmohan Unnithan had engaged in a war of words over the issue on Monday.
Hassan had stated that the committee formed to coordinate activities of the party and the government had supported the Chief Minister’s stand that closed bars which have undertaken renovation work should be opened. Rajmohan Unnithan termed Hassan’s statement as an advocacy for the ‘bar lobby’.
He also pointed out that Sudheeran had the support of the entire general body of the KPCC, which wants to ensure that none of the 418 bars are reopened.
He also wanted the KPCC-Government co-ordination committee to be dissolved as it is against the constitution of the party.