KOCHI: The seemingly unending tussle for control of the Kerala Congress (M) between P J Joseph and Jose K Mani factions has put the UDF in a spot of bother. Congress, the main constituent of the front, which has been a mute spectator till now, will be forced to intervene as it is worried that this may spoil the UDF’s chances in the upcoming local body elections and its hope of regaining power after the 2021 assembly elections.
The Congress leadership is in a dilemma as the two factions have fielded separate candidates in the upcoming bypolls to local bodies in Kottayam and Wayanad districts. The candidates fielded by the Joseph faction have been allocated the party symbol of two leaves as they claim they are the official candidates. The UDF leadership has, meanwhile, begun unofficial bilateral talks with the two factions to resolve the issues and reach an amicable settlement. “We have to wrest 20 to 30 assembly seats from Ernakulam and Thrissur districts in the 2021 assembly polls so as to return to power in the state. If the infighting in the KC(M) continues, it will affect UDF’s chances,” said a top Congress leader.
UDF convener and Congress leader Benny Behanan, MP, said that bilateral discussions were underway. “The UDF hopes an amicable settlement between the two factions can be reached and the party stays united. So far, we have not fixed any date to hold talks officially,” said Behanan.
According to sources, after the recent two-day camp of the party at Adoor, KC(M) working chairman Joseph has taken an adamant stand that there should be only a single KC(M) unit in the UDF that is headed by him as the others had quit the outfit. “They can return to the party fold after admitting the leadership of P J Joseph. The party is waiting for the final decision from the Central Election Commission on the party symbol and it will decide the further course of action after this,” said a party leader.
To put the Jose faction on the defensive, Joseph has called the meeting of the working committee in Thodupuzha on December 14 to elect the party chairman as the post is lying vacant following the demise of party chairman K M Mani. He has sent the invite to everyone, including Jose K Mani. If they fail to attend, his plan is to raise the issue before the Central Election Commission, besides ousting the absentees.
Joseph faction leaders are of the view that the Pala bypoll debacle was due to the infighting within the Jose faction.
“Rumblings have begun in their faction. For instance, Roshy Augustine, MLA, who is now representing Idukki constituency, hopes to contest from Pala next time as he is not sure of victory in Idukki without the support of Joseph,” said a source.
Joseph faction is aware that in the upcoming assembly polls, the Congress would not allocate all the 15 seats KC (M) contested in the 2016 polls due to the feud. Hence, they have taken the decision that they will not give even a single seat to the Jose faction from the seats allocated by the UDF.
Jose, on his part, has a good rapport with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, which he hopes will help him in the assembly polls, or even in the local body polls next year.