THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after former Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala criticised the organisational lapses for the poll drubbing before the Ashok Chavan committee, he initiated damage control measures by praising state Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran in a Facebook post.
It is learnt that there was an understanding among Chennithalala, Mullappally and Oommen Chandy that they would not depose before the fact-finding committee in the initial stages. But much to the amusement of Mullappally, Chennithala broke his word.
Initially, the fact-finding committee was supposed to come to Thiruvananthapuram and meet the stakeholders in person. But with the lockdown, the central Congress leadership decided to expedite the process which led the five-member committee to meet the state Congress leaders virtually. Following the poll debacle, Mullappally had submitted a five-page report in which he concluded that erosion of the traditional minority vote base was the reason for UDF’s poll debacle. But sources said Mullappally was shocked when Chennithala blamed organisational lapse for the poll drubbing.
“Since I had already submitted a detailed report before the Congress president, there was no need to attend the virtual meet again. If required, I can send my report to Ashok Chavan. Actually, who made the organisation weak? My pedigree is different. I value self-respect and also my principles,” Mullappally told TNIE, hinting that he was upset with Chennithala’s criticism. On Thursday, in an apparent effort to calm the frayed nerves, Chennithala wrote on Facebook that a personality like Mullapally was misunderstood and the allegations raised against him will not stand the scrutiny of time. Chennithala also lamented that none had seen the good side of Mullappally.
“Mullappally has undertaken a laborious process to strengthen the party. I am wondering whether a leader of Mullappally’s stature who is a workaholic and also who stands for his ideals has ever been meted out justice by the party and the society alike. I believe he has been given a raw deal,” wrote Chennithala in his Facebook post. He claimed he was not blaming Mullappally for the organisational lapse, but was talking about the failure of the collective leadership.