Frame norms, prepare nominee panel for Rajya Sabha candidature: Sonia Gandhi

Move follows opposition against proposal to give seat to M Liju or Sreenivasan Krishnan
Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Photo | EPS)
Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Photo | EPS)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday directed state president K Sudhakaran to frame norms first and then prepare a panel of nominees for Rajya Sabha candidature. The decision followed the strong opposition from various sections of leaders against the proposal to give the seat to M Liju or Sreenivasan Krishnan. The name of Johnson Abraham, former State Congress treasurer, also got included in discussions at the last minute.

A section of senior leaders informed Sonia Gandhi that the move to nominate Liju was without any consultation at the state level. They alleged that Liju had tasted defeat thrice consecutively in the Assembly elections. The leaders also asked the president not to consider any leader who was rejected by people in the poll. Earlier, K Muraleedharan MP also made such a demand before the central leadership.

“Sudhakaran being the state party chief should not have endorsed his unilateral decision by backing Liju. He should have held talks with Satheesan and other stakeholders”, said a senior Congress leader. Sudhakaran, who returned to Thiruvananthapuram from New Delhi on Thursday night will meet Satheesan and other leaders on Friday morning to prepare the panel.

Announcement of the candidate is expected by Friday evening or Saturday. Sudhakaran told reporters in New Delhi that not only Liju but former Kannur district Congress chief Satheesan Pacheni too had met the Congress leadership staking a claim for the Rajya Sabha seat. If the leadership comes up with a norm that those candidates who had been unsuccessful in the elections should not be considered, then Satheesan Pacheni too doesn’t stand a chance. He had tasted defeat in Kannur Assembly seat in the 2021 Assembly elections.

There are also demands to field a woman leader as Congress has never sent a woman to RS and a Muslim leader as there was no representation in Parliament for a Muslim leader after Thalekkunnil Basheer.
A leader told TNIE that 61-year-old Johnson Abraham may emerge as a consensus candidate. He has apparently got the blessings of V D Satheesan and national general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal.

Johnson, a native of Bharanikavu in Alappuzha, is currently in Bengaluru as the assistant returning officer for holding the organisational polls in Karnataka. He had served as State Congress secretary during the tenure of Ramesh Chennithala. Later, he became party treasurer under V M Sudheeran and under M M Hassan. During Mullappally Ramachandran’s occupancy, he had served as party state general secretary.

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