THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress state president K Sudhakaran on Monday returned from New Delhi without handing over the draft list of the state committee office-bearers to the party high command. The last-minute deferment of submission followed the concerns raised by three former state presidents, V M Sudheeran, Mullappally Ramachandran and M M Hassan.
They complained that they were not taken into confidence yet again in the organisational revamping. The names suggested by national general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal has also not gone down well with Sudhakaran, causing further stalemate in the revamp.
The two factional leaders, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, had given their respective lists comprising 10 and 12 each to Sudhakaran and Opposition leader V D Satheesan. Even when Satheesan has reiterated that the 51-member state committee list has been prepared not on the basis of group equations, Chandy had maintained that the priority names given by him should not be removed from the final list.
The three former state presidents separately told TNIE that they were not consulted during the course of the second round of organisational revamping. But the central leadership is under the impression that Sudhakaran and Satheesan had held proper consultations with all the stakeholders.
“When Tariq Anwar, national general secretary in charge of the state, was here, he had informed the former state presidents that the leadership will be seeking their suggestions. Since that has not happened, it is clear that the leadership is not keen to hold talks with them,” said a senior Congress leader.
However, Sudhakaran told TNIE that the list was not submitted as Tariq Anwar had to leave for his home town in Bihar on Monday afternoon. He said the draft list will be submitted to the central leadership after two days. “If the state leadership has to seek the views of the former state presidents, they should also help create a conducive atmosphere which has not happened so far,” said Sudhakaran, when asked about the complaints of former presidents.