KOTTAYAM: Putting the United Democratic Front (UDF) leadership in a quandary ahead of the upcoming local body elections, the warring Jose K Mani and PJ Joseph factions in the Kerala Congress (M) have toughened their stances, brushing off chances for reconciliation. Convening separate state committee meetings in Kottayam and Thodupuzha on Saturday, both factions have resolved to move ahead with their strategies to get the mantle of the KC(M).
While the state committee meeting convened by the Joseph faction has commenced procedures to elect a new party chairman and fill the vacancies at its helm, the Jose faction’s meeting decided not to share its seats with the Joseph group in the upcoming local body elections. Joseph, who gained the upper hand in the factional fight by winning some legal battle in courts and with the State Election Commission, is now making tactical steps to gain the total control of the party. As part of the move, Joseph initiated mandatory procedures to elect a new chairman by selecting Sajan Francis as the returning officer for the process.
“We are moving ahead in compliance with the guidelines set by the Election Commission of India. Since existing office-bearers were elected in 2018, they can continue till 2021. The part-time vacancy of the chairman and other posts will be filled on the basis of consensus which is the precedence in the party,” said Mons Joseph, MLA, a prominent leader of the Joseph faction.
At the same time, P J Joseph is also planning to wield the sword of disciplinary action against Jose K Mani taking advantage of the favourable orders he received from the State Election Commission and courts in the fight for the party’s official symbol of ‘two leaves’ and the earlier disciplinary action initiated against some Jose faction leaders.
“When Jose convened an illegal meeting on his own in June, the party leadership had warned him of disciplinary action if he continued to do the same. Now, he has once again violated the party line by convening yet another meeting on Saturday, which amounts to a breach of discipline. As Jose Mani had challenged the party leadership, it definitely entails disciplinary action. The party will seriously look into the matter and consider initiating action against him after holding due discussions,” Mons said.
Meanwhile, Jose decided not to budge an inch in his fight to get the reins of the party, which was formed by his father the late K M Mani. Claiming transparency in all the organisational activities of his faction, Jose also claimed he convened a meeting of the state committee members, endorsed by the state returning officer. Jose said his candidates would contest in the seats which will be allocated to KC (M) in the upcoming civic elections.
“Our candidates will contest in the upcoming election in line with the seat-sharing pattern adopted in the previous local body election. We won’t share any of our seats which we received after the merger of the Kerala Congress factions in 2010,” Jose said.
At the same time, the Jose faction agreed for a compromise in the group war for the chairman’s post in Changanassery municipality. Retracting its earlier stance, Jose faction’s chairman Lalichan Kunnipparambil will step down from the post to avoid the impasse. Though we are not obliged to share the post with the rival faction, Lalichan will tender his resignation on December 31 for the sake of the UDF,” Jose said.
Joseph betrayed the UDF by not giving the party symbol to KC (M)’s candidate in Pala by-election. Central Election Commission will take a final decision on the party symbol. Cases filed in connection with the party’s internal affairs are not a setback. We have serious doubts over the documents submitted by Joseph before the Election Commission
Jose K Mani