THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state Congress’ political affairs committee (PAC) is set to be revamped and reinforced.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has submitted a draft list, including more than 10 new faces, to the high command, which will take the strength of the committee to above 30. There are indications that the high command will take up the subject soon.
The current PAC, which was formed in 2016 to improve coordination between the government and the party during the last UDF government, has 23 members. There are four vacancies, arising from the demise of Oommen Chandy and P T Thomas, and K V Thomas and P C Chacko leaving the party. Although V M Sudheeran had submitted his resignation from the panel, the state leadership did not accept it.
Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor is all set to be included in the PAC. According to sources, two new women are on the draft list: Padmaja Venugopal and Bindu Krishna. Shanimol Usman is the lone woman in the current committee.
Hibi Eden, M K Raghavan, A P Anil Kumar, Joseph Vazhakkan, V S Sivakumar, N Subrahmanyam, Shafi Parambil, Dean Kuriakose, K P Dhanapalan are some of the new faces on the list. The state leadership decided to enlarge the PAC after it became clear that the long-awaited KPCC reconstitution would take time to materialise.
Party leaders are of the view that the PAC strength should be limited to between 25 and 30. “If the strength of the committee crosses 25 its purpose is derailed,” a senior leader told TNIE. “Members of the existing PAC are not loyalists. This allowed them to express their opinion without fear or favour. If the leadership is going to fill the PAC with supporters, then the main purpose is lost,” he said.
Some names had earlier been considered for inclusion in the committee. However, as groups and leaders proposed their nominees some names were dropped and new ones were included in the draft list. The state leadership submitted the list nearly ten days back.