KOCHI: Though discontent is brewing in Congress over the appointment of block committee presidents, the state leadership has decided to ignore the dissent aired by various factions.
The KPCC has directed the newly appointed block presidents to take charge before June 11, sending a clear message that there would not be a rethinking on the block-level rejig being undertaken by the party. State Congress president K Sudhakaran, who has not commented on the revamp so far, is ignoring dissent so as to avoid further talks which would delay the revamp process, it is learnt.
Earlier, Tariq Anwar, AICC general secretary in charge of party affairs in the state, also dismissed the criticisms aired by ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions.
According to sources close to Sudhakaran, the appointments of 180 block presidents were made unanimously. Moreover, the party considered the names submitted by the district-level reorganisation committees comprising leaders of various factions. Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan held several rounds of talks with senior leaders and others ahead of the revamp, extending over eight months. However, veteran leader Oommen Chandy, who is currently under treatment in Bengaluru, could not be consulted owing to his health condition, sources added.
The ‘A’ faction has aired strong dissent with Benny Behanan, MP, openly criticising the appointments alleging that the reorganisation was made via ‘WhatsApp’ in a democratic party like Congress. He also criticised the state leadership for not holding consultations with Oommen Chandy. Most of the leaders are of the view that the nominees of AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, V D Satheesan and K Sudhakaran made it to the block presidents’ posts, and the A group which held a considerable number of block presidents’ posts is the biggest loser after the revamp.
Meanwhile, ‘A’ group leaders, including UDF convener M M Hassan, Benny Behanan, and K C Joseph, met Oommen Chandy in Bengaluru on Wednesday and apprised him about the recent developments. The ‘A’ group, headed by Chandy, has lodged complaints before the high command and decided to stay away from party meetings and further rejig process.
2-DAY CONCLAVE FOR NEW BLOCK PRESIDENTS
The party has decided to hold conclaves for the new block presidents in Kochi and Kozhikode. The two-day conclave is intended to provide training for the block presidents on strengthening the organisational set-up as part of the ‘Vision-2024’, announced by the KPCC which aims at winning 20 out of 20 seats in the next Lok Sabha polls.