KOCHI:The unrest brewing within the Congress young brigade has gathered momentum with more leaders, including MLAs Hibi Eden, Roji M John and Anil Akkara, coming out against the party leadership and its move to renominate PJ Kurien to the Rajya Sabha, saying the party should not treat the Upper House as an “old-age home”.
Akkara, the Wadakkancherry MLA, even said he would not vote for Kurien if the septuagenarian was renominated. Urging the party to give young leaders a shot at the Rajya Sabha Deputy Speaker post which fell vacant after Kurien’s term ended, the young leaders said the party had failed to reward performers.
“In three decades, only six persons – almost all of them in their late 60s then – were promoted. In contrast, LDF and CPM promoted around 20 fresh faces,” they said. The MLA trio joined Congress leader Mathew Kuzhalnadan and MLAs V T Balram and Shafi Parambil who are demanding a change in the state leadership, removing those who have been hanging on to their posts for several decades. Besides the reshuffle, the youth leaders are strongly demanding the Rajya Sabha tenure of Kurien not be extended, putting party leaders in a tight spot.
“The party has become a consortium of leaders. People are looking for a visible change. If the change does not materialise in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, the party will be isolated from people, especially from youths and women. At a time the government itself is challenging the Constitution and attempting to sabotage the democratic system, Congress should not create a situation which makes people view the Rajya Sabha as an old-age home,” Hibi Eden told Express.
Hibi also expressed his opinion on Facebook. In the post, he said it was unjustifiable the Congress party used Rajya Sabha as a platform to accommodate the dissatisfied, while other parties set an example by sending their young blood to RS.Roji M John told Express Congress should break out of the traditional system of sharing top posts based on group, caste, community and other factors.
“Congress is a secular democratic organisation and should stand firmly on its values. When other parties occupied the space of Congress, it led to the growth of fascist forces in the country. The leadership should look into this seriously,” said Roji, who also made his opinions known via Facebook.
“In the AICC session in which Rahul Gandhi assumed charge as president, he pointed to the vacant stage in the presence of all senior leaders and said party platforms were kept reserved for the youth. A humble request to senior leaders like Kurien that they should remember this and give way to eligible persons,” Roji said in the post. He said all party workers and sympathisers were hoping for an entire reshuffle. “If it does not happen, it will definitely affect the party’s existence,” he said.
In an FB post, Anil Akkara said he had urged the party leadership not to levy burden on an excellent person like Kurien by giving him big responsibilities. “This is not just my opinion. Everyone feels this way,” he said. Earlier, Balram and Shafi Parambil had also demanded Kurien not be given another RS term.
Sudhakaran supports youth
Congress leader K Sudhakaran has extended support to the demand aired by young leaders.