Kerala: Congress group chieftains burst out, state leadership unrelenting
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The disquiet among leaders and workers who pledge allegiance to ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups of the state Congress on Sunday came out in the open a day after the announcement of new district committee presidents.
According to sources, the extent of dissent is deeper than what was on display and there would be serious implications in the coming days. It is reliably learnt that a few of the disgruntled leaders have begun negotiations with other parties, including LDF constituents, for giving a slap on the face of the new leadership.
Leading the criticism, former chief minister Oommen Chandy and former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala expressed dissent openly over the lack of consultation in finalising the names of DCC presidents. However, the new state leadership is determined to go ahead with the list of DCC presidents. Though Congress state president K Sudhakaran and Opposition leader V D Satheesan didn’t expect the public criticism by senior-most leader Chandy that there was no proper consultation about the list, they were prepared to answer the criticism with what is claimed to be “the facts”.
Chandy’s grievance was that his name was unnecessarily dragged into the controversy and that the state leadership had not honoured their promise to hold a last round of talks before the draft list was submitted to the high command on August 15. Though Nattakom Suresh, who was appointed the president of Kottayam DCC, was a nominee of Chandy, it is learnt that he was not his first choice. In a departure from his usual public reactions, Chandy revealed that Philson Mathews and Jomon Aikkara were the other two names he had suggested and complained that there was no consultation before finalising the candidate.
The selection of C P Mathew as Idukki DCC president as suggested by Chandy has raised eyebrows even among ‘A’ group leaders as he belongs to the Chennithala camp. To placate Chennithala, the high command changed the name of Alappuzha DCC president in the last minute and accommodated his nominee B Babuprasad.
Chandy and Chennithala were also peeved with the state leadership for suspending senior leader K Sivadasan Nair and former state general secretary (organisation) K P Anilkumar over their open criticism on live television channel debate.
‘High command surprised by Chandy’s outburst’
While Anilkumar is backed by Chennithala, Sivadasan Nair has the support of Chandy. Sudhakaran took a jibe at Anilkumar citing that he had eyed the DCC president post (in Kozhikode) and when he realised that his name was not there in the list, he took up cudgels against the leadership. In continuation of the two leaders’ suspension, the state leadership banned leaders from speaking to media about the list and no leaders attended prime-time debates on news channels on Sunday night.
Satheesan and Sudhakaran who met reporters separately criticised the two group leaders and reminded them how they had divided seats among their loyalists in the past. MPs K Muraleedharan and Rajmohan Unnithan came out in support of the KPCC leadership.
Satheesan’s statement that they had not finalised the list by sitting in a corner and discussing it between the two leaders shows that he is in no mood to relent to the pressure tactics played by the group leaders. Though the group leaders are targeting the state leadership, they are unable to show their ire against K C Venugopal who has been the master brain to ensure that group politics does not have any space in the party state unit.
“The Congress high command is also surprised with Chandy’s outburst. They are aware that after a few days, the issue will fizzle out. The prominence the group leaders had enjoyed so far is no longer there and they would come up with all tricks up their sleeve to ensure that the state leadership does not have a smooth sail,” a senior Congress leader told TNIE. Group managers Joseph Vazhakkan and Chalakudy MP Benny Behanan too had said on Sunday that consultations were not held with the senior leaders.
Gains and losses
‘A’ group: Five of Oommen Chandy’s nominees found place in the list. Palode Ravi (Thiruvananthapuram), Rajendra Prasad (Kollam), Nattakom Suresh (Kottayam), C P Mathew (Idukki)
and N D Appachan (Wayanad)
But, Chandy is upset as his first choices from the panel were rejected in most of the districts
High command group: K C Venugopal’s nominees P K Faizal (Kasaragod), V S Joy (Malappuram) and A Thankappan (Palakkad) could find place in the list
With his proximity to Gandhi family, Venugopal strengthened his position in state politics and he now has support of K Sudhakaran and V D Satheesan too
‘I’ group: 3 in the list — N D Appachan, C P Mathew and B Babuprasad (Alappuzha) — were Chennithala’s nominees
But, only Babuprasad can be considered a trusted lieutenant and Chennithala’s choices have been rejected in a few other districts
VD-KS group: Mohammed Shiyas (Ernakulam), Jose Valloor (Thrissur) and Martin George (Kannur) are close to the new leadership. K Praveenkumar (Kozhikode) and Satheesh Kochuparambil (Pathanamthitta) who found place in the list as nominees of K Muraleedharan and P J Kurien can also be counted to be part of VD-KS group
Both leaders enjoy the support of Gandhi family, thanks to their bonding with K C Venugopal