THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While KPCC president V M Sudheeran, of late, is seemingly determined to play smart by pitching on a moral high ground in many issues connected with the government, the ‘A’ and the ‘I’ factions have virtually closed ranks and have begun to work in tandem to checkmate the former including his choice of candidates for the Assembly polls. For the third time in recent days, prominent leaders of the two factions are slated to sit together on Monday and finetune the Congress candidates’ final list amongst themselves, with a give and take policy as a rider for various segments. In effect, it is intended to outwit Sudheeran and isolate his choices inserted in the preliminary list of candidates, raising the key winnability factor issue.
“Already, both the factions are working very closely. The mission is to retain power in the state, on which the Congress High Command is very particular. Sudheeran is also aware of it. Even swapping of seats between the two factions may be there to ensure end victory,” a key legislator representing the ‘I’ faction, told ‘Express.’ Creating bottle-necks in the Congress poll drive has been brought to the attention of the party top brass. The political impact of Sudheeran’s stand notwithstanding, the reality that he cannot pull off a coup in the party on his own, has emboldened the major groups to join hands. The high command is strongly behind Chief minister Oommen Chandy, as he tops the list of Congress leaders with popularity and pull. The decision of the two groups to move together was stamped again on Saturday, after Sudheeran kept away from the UDF special convention held in Kottayam on Saturday. As an add on, he urged Oommen Chandy on Saturday to withdraw the notification which had excluded the VACB from the purview of the RTI Act, issued the other day.
Chandy has already given a message to his camp that group affiliations need not be seriously taken into account while selecting candidates, it is reliably learnt. “There is a general consensus that only those who have a good rating to win should be promoted,” V D Satheesan MLA told ‘Express.’