KOZHIKODE: Adding a new dimension to the debate on the UDF chief ministerial candidate, Kozhikode MP M K Raghavan has claimed that it was not the Congress high command that decided on sitting MPs not contesting the just-concluded Kerala assembly elections.
Addressing reporters in New Delhi, Raghavan said the central leadership of the party was constrained to concede to the demand from a section of leaders from Kerala that there should be a bar on MPs contesting assembly elections. He pointed out that the high command had allowed Gourav Gogoi, an MP from Assam, to contest from his state.
“Some leaders had approached me saying that I should contest seats where Congress has been getting defeated for decades. They said this would improve the strength of the Congress in the assembly and brighten the chances of the UDF coming to power,” Raghavan said.
He said the same leaders later appraised the high command that there is no need for the MPs to fight the assembly elections. Raghavan said he would publicise the names of the leaders at a later stage. He termed as baseless KPCC president Sunny Joseph’s statement that it was the party high command that prevented the MPs from contesting elections.
“It is not correct to put the entire blame on the central leadership. In fact, the high command was forced to succumb to the stubborn stand of some leaders from Kerala,” he said.
Blaming Ernakulam DCC president Mohammed Shiyas for triggering a debate on the chief minister candidate, he said such discussions were quite unnecessary.
“He has no right to make such statements. It was immature,” Raghavan said, adding that there are certain norms in the Congress for the selection of the chief minister.
It may be recalled that the Congress leadership in Kerala had said it was the high command’s decision that MPs need not contest the election. There were reports that some MPs including former KPCC president K Sudhakaran, M K Raghavan and Adoor Prakash were keen on returning to state politics. Raghavan’s outbursts strengthened the suspicion that there are more things than what meets the eye in the current developments in the Congress.
Meanwhile, the IUML has publicly expressed the party’s displeasure over the debates over the chief minister candidate. The party state general secretary P M A Salam said such open debates would adversely affect the morale of UDF workers.
“The discussions are untimely because the votes are yet to be counted,” Salam told reporters in Kozhikode.
IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the issues in the Congress will be solved after the counting of votes on May 4. “Let us wait till May 4 and after that the UDF will take a decision,” he said.
At the same time, Sudhakaran, the Kannur MP, said there is nothing unusual in the discussions about the possible candidates for the post of chief minister. He told reporters that such discussions had taken place in the party in the past too. Sudhakaran had noted in a Facebook post that K C Venugopal, who is one among the frontrunners for the CM’s post, is an unquestioned leader in the party. Sudhakaran added that Venugopal’s continuing presence is imperative for the party in Kerala.