KOCHI: The Congress’ move to make VD Satheesan the Leader of Opposition indicates the changing power equation in the grand old party in Kerala, with KC Venugopal emerging stronger. AICC general secretary Venugopal, who is considered close to Rahul Gandhi, made some smart behind-the-scenes moves to checkmate the Oommen Chandy-Ramesh Chennithala axis after the duo tried till the last minute to convince the high command that time is not right to go in for a leadership change by arguing for a ‘status quo’, a source said.
However, Venugopal convinced Rahul that the patience of party workers in Kerala was running out and ‘it’s a case of now or never’, after the high command developed cold feet when Chandy got CWC member and most senior leader from Kerala in New Delhi, AK Antony to make a plea for Chennithala to be given ‘one last chance’.
“When all the senior leaders, including Antony, pleaded for Chennithala’s continuation, it’s quite obvious that the high command would have second thoughts,”said the source, adding, what clinched the issue in favour of Satheesan was the strong demand from a section of young Congress MLAs, cutting across group affiliations, to back as the next Opposition leader. All the Congress MPs from Kerala, except Benny Behanan, also backed Satheesan, which made the job easier, in the final analysis.
What surprised the Chandy-Chennithala camp is the decision by some of their die-hard loyalist MLAs to back Satheesan in defiance of their orders. While ‘A’ group MLAs Shafi Parambil, T Siddique, M Vincent and T J Saneesh Kumar Joseph backed Satheesan, the ‘I’ faction’s Roji John, C R Mahesh and Sajeev Joseph also supported Satheesan. Mathew Kuzhalnadan, the MLA from Muvattupuzha who does not belong to any group, also supported Satheesan. P C Vishnunath, another young MLA who’s close to Chandy, is also learnt to have backed Satheesan.
There were indications that the decades-old Chandy-Chennithala ‘arrangement’, under which both ‘A’ and ‘I’ group work in tandem to ensure benefits, including various posts and tickets during elections only for their respective loyalists, had started developing cracks when Venugopal intervened to give tickets to several young faces in the assembly elections.
“But, there were reports from the ground that these candidates were not getting enough support from the party network during the campaign. This, after Venugopal ensured that there was no shortage of funds for the election campaign,” said another source. Earlier, Chennithala got the support of KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran to continue as the Opposition leader, so that there won’t be any demand for Mullappally’s removal from either Chennithala or Chandy. But, with Satheesan named as the Opposition leader, Mullappally has also agreed to step down, the source added.
“This (Satheesan’s elevation) indicates a clear change in power equations in Congress leadership in Kerala, and the man who performed a coup of sorts is KC (Venugopal),” said a source, adding, what convinced Rahul Gandhi was that a further delay in ending the tight grip of ‘A’, ‘I’ factions in Kerala was not in the interest of the Congress in the state.