Kerala Congress(M) plans disqualification of MLAs Joseph, Mons
KOTTAYAM: KEEPING his cards close to his chest, Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani continues to maintain suspense on his party’s political stance. However, the KC(M) would go ahead with the disqualification move against MLAs P J Joseph and Mons Joseph for violating the party whip in the assembly, Jose said on Sunday. “The KC(M) steering committee meeting held in Kottayam unanimously resolved to proceed with the move,” he said.
Though he welcomed the praises and assurances from CPM leaders, Jose did not drop any hint regarding the KC(M)’s entry into the UDF or the LDF. “After being ousted from the UDF, the KC(M) had taken an independent position in the state politics. Now that the ECI’s verdict is in our favour, the party steering committee will make a decision on joining one of the coalitions before the upcoming civic polls,” he said.
With regard to the Kuttanad byelection, Jose said the party’s stance would be declared following the issuance of the election notification. “The Kuttanad constituency is a KC(M) stronghold. We have been contesting here under the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol for a long time now. We are prepared. But we will take a decision after the ECI makes the announcement for the bypoll,” he said.
Jose further stated that the party steering committee arrived at the unanimous decision to submit a petition to the Assembly Speaker to disqualify the membership of P J Joseph and Mons Joseph in the assembly, because they violated the party whip to abstain from voting in the Rajya Sabha polls and the no-confidence motion against the LDF government. “As per the Rule 3(6) of the Anti-Defection Law, parties get 15 days for condoning the whip violation. However, the panel has decided not to condone the violation and move ahead with the disqualification proceedings,” he said.
Meanwhile, claiming that Jose can’t act as the KC(M) chairman, P J Joseph reiterated his stance that Sunday’s steering committee meeting was convened against the court’s order. He added that the ‘symbol’ won’t be an issue in the election. “K M Mani had contested polls in various symbols in the past. I have also done the same. It is the people’s support that matters,” he said.