THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A simmering leadership tussle within the Congress in Kerala has come to the fore, with sharp differences emerging over the denial of assembly tickets to sitting MPs, exposing fault lines between senior leaders and the state leadership.
The controversy, triggered by Kozhikode MP MK Raghavan’s public outburst, has now put the spotlight firmly on Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, both of whom are learnt to have opposed the entry of MPs into state politics despite earlier indications to the contrary.
According to Raghavan’s close associates, “promise, betrayal and deceit” are the three words that encapsulate the outrage expressed by the Kozhikode MP on Friday as he lashed out at a section of leaders for allegedly preventing the high command from giving the green signal for sitting MPs to contest assembly polls.
Sources in the Congress told TNIE that at the initial stage there was no resistance from any of the leaders against MPs contesting assembly elections.
“The whole idea was to win the maximum number of seats in a closely fought election,” said a senior Congress leader.
“When the subject came up for initial informal discussion among top leaders, it was said that the MPs who had a winning chance should contest from constituencies that had been with the LDF for some time,” he added.
Congress leaders also indicated that Raghavan, Adoor Prakash and K Sudhakaran had expressed their willingness to contest from seats where the LDF had won including Elathur, Konni and Kannur respectively.
A close associate of Raghavan said that Satheesan and Chennithala personally favoured Raghavan’s entry. However, Raghavan’s associates alleged that once the discussion was shifted to New Delhi, the two leaders’ tone changed.
A senior leader who closely watched the deliberations told TNIE that in the final round of discussions at the Central Election Committee meeting Satheesan opposed sitting
MPs contesting assembly seats. “K C Venugopal and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that, as the MPs are contesting in LDF strongholds, it should be allowed,” said the leader.
Satheesan told the high command that if sitting MPs are contesting, he would not be a candidate in the election.
Chennithala also strongly supported the Opposition leader’s cause.“Though Rahul Gandhi tried to break the ice, it was futile which led Kharge to reportedly advise that the opposition leader should be flexible,” the leader added.
Raghavan camp alleged that both Satheesan or Chennithala did not inform him about their change in stand.