Unrest in Congress: Rajya Sabha seat compromise based on alliance dharma, says KPCC president MM Hassan

M M Hassan on Saturday tried to calm the frayed nerves of the workers, saying it was the only way out before the party leadership to strengthen the UDF ahead of the 2019 general election.

A file image of KPCC president MM Hassan.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the unrest in the Congress continues with a section of senior leaders and youth brigade targeting the party leadership over its decision to give the Rajya Sabha seat to KC(M), KPCC president M M Hassan on Saturday tried to calm the frayed nerves of the workers, saying it was the only way out before the party leadership to strengthen the UDF ahead of the 2019 general election.
Mani was adamant on the Rajya Sabha seat as a condition to return to the UDF and the leadership took such a decision to save the front, he said.

Even though Mani was assured that he would be given an RS seat when two seats become vacant, he made it clear that he would be back only if all the positions the KC(M) had when it quit the front are given back, he said. As part of this, Mani sought the RS seat that had become vacant with the end of the term of KC(M)’s Joy Abraham, one LS seat and all the Assembly seats it contested in the last election, he said.
Though the high command wanted to see Mani back in the UDF, it was not in the favour of giving his party the RS seat. But it relented, considering the need to strengthen the secular front for the Lok Sabha polls, he said.

Hassan also cited the instance of Karnataka, where the Congress gave the CM’s post to the JD(S) despite the former having won more seats in the polls. At times, the party has to take some decisions to save the larger interest of the party. And this is one such decision, he said.The party can understand the workers’ anguish and will stand by them, but there is a limit to everything, he said.He said it is unfair to draw a parallel between the incident in which M P Veerendra Kumar was given an RS seat and the latest one. If Kumar was given a seat to stay in the UDF, Mani was given the seat to expand the base, he said.When asked about V M Sudheeran’s statement that the move will embolden the BJP in Kerala, Hassan said it was only his opinion and the move won’t serve the BJP’s cause.