THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major blow to Congress MPs who have been keen to return to the state politics and contest the assembly elections, KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran has said such attempts would not be allowed.At the swearing-in of the new KPCC secretaries here on Tuesday, Mullappally said he had brought the issue to the notice of AICC leadership and said such individual interests would not be entertained. Later, when Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and former CM Oommen Chandy spoke, they conveyed the same message.
The latest to show interest in returning to the state politics is Thrissur MP T N Prathapan who is eyeing the Kaipamangalam assembly seat. To this end, he has been trying to lean to the ‘I’ group which has not gone down well with Chennithala. Other MPs who have evinced interest to return to the state include Adoor Prakash, K Sudhakaran, K Muraleedharan and Benny Behanan who are all eyeing ministerial berths hoping that UDF will emerge victorious in the 2021 assembly elections.
A senior Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, told TNIE that Prathapan, who had shown allegiance to former KPCC president V M Sudheeran, had recently tried to cozy up to the ‘I’ group. “Chennithala apparently warned him against entertaining any hope of contesting from Kaipamangalam,” said the leader.
When Adoor Prakash and Sudhakaran contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, they were hopeful of getting central ministerial berths under the Ezhava quota which fell vacant after Mullappally returned to state politics and with 83-year-old Vayalar Ravi, currently a Rajya Sabha MP, battling age-related issues. Their dreams were shattered when UPA was trounced in the elections.
Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan has already criticised the move by some MPs to return. He had said sitting MLAs like Muraleedharan (Vattiyoorkavu) and Adoor Prakash (Konni) should not have been allowed to contest in the 2019 polls when there were other eligible Congress leaders. By doing so, the Congress lost the two seats to the CPM in the bypolls, he had said.
‘Can’t protect everyone’s interest’
At the swearing-in programme, KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran apologised to the newly appointed KPCC secretaries for the delay in their appointment. Reacting to MPs who had expressed their displeasure at not being consulted by the KPCC before the organisational revamp, Mullappally said everyone’s interests could not be protected as his aim was to achieve community balance.