THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress state executive meeting on Saturday witnessed a heated exchange of words between Deepa Dasmunshi, the newly appointed AICC general secretary in charge of the state, and senior leader V M Sudheeran, who maintained that a soft Hindutva stand will not be to the party’s advantage.
Speaking to reporters at Indira Bhavan after the meeting, both KPCC president K Sudhakaran and Deepa expressed their strong displeasure with Sudheeran for raking up the issue.
Meanwhile, a move by ‘A’ group leaders to seek someone to deputise for Sudhakaran, who leaves for America for medical treatment on Sunday, has been torpedoed by the central leadership.
Sudhakaran sought 10 days’ leave of absence and maintained that organisational leaders would coordinate the day-to-day affairs of the party during this time. The executive did not take up the matter of finding someone to stand in for him. A senior ‘A’ group leader said the issue became a closed chapter when Sudhakaran announced that no one would cover for him.
“When Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan went to the US for treatment, he did not deputise anyone. So it was expected that the leadership would not press Sudhakaran to name someone to fill in for him,” the ‘A’ group leader told TNIE.
However factional leaders believe that it is too early to seek a replacement, which will depend on the outcome of his treatment at Mayo Clinic. Sudhakaran is scheduled to return on January 16.
Ahead of the KPCC executive, ‘A’ leaders, who have been complaining of being sidelined in the party, held closed-door talks with Deepa at Mascot Hotel. It’s reliably learnt that she gave a patient hearing to K C Joseph and Benny Behanan MP, whose grievances include lack of consultation in the party, besides organisational lapses. Party leaders were taken unawares when Sudheeran arrived for the executive meeting, after a gap of two years. Sudheeran, who sat next to CWC leader A K Antony, lashed out at the party leadership.
He took potshots at Sudhakaran saying he had joined the Congress only in 1987, while the former KPCC president had joined the party organisation when he was just 16 years old.
“Deepa was enraged when Sudheeran urged the central leadership to take a tough stance on Hindutva. She maintained that it’s the prerogative of the AICC to take a call on whether the party should attend the consecration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya on January 22. There’s no point in state units coming out with their respective stand on the issue,” the senior leader told TNIE.
Shashi Tharoor also came to the rescue of the central leadership, saying the party has neither a soft nor hard stand against Hindutva. The three-term Thiruvananthapuram MP maintained that he is a Hindu believer who does not endorse Hindutva.
Sudhakaran, during his interaction with reporters, refused to hide his ire against Sudheeran. “He attended today’s meeting after a long break. When I had invited him for an earlier meeting, he maintained that he had quit the party,” resented Sudhakaran. Deepa said Sudheeran left the venue after his speech.