THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Resentment is brewing within Sivagiri Mutt over the lack of representation to Ezhava community members in Congress candidate list.
Meanwhile, former KPCC president V M Sudheeran expressed discontent after he was kept away from consultations.
Sivagiri Mutt chief Swami Satchidananda told TNIE that the mutt had given a list of 18 people to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when he visited Sivagiri on March 7. “We have learnt that upper caste communities are trying to sabotage this list by fielding their own candidates. We hope the state Congress leadership will respect the assurance given by Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
He said if the Congress failed to accommodate the individuals proposed by the mutt, it would face grave consequences. “We will call upon followers of Sree Narayana Guru to boycott UDF in the polls. We will ask our followers not to cast votes for UDF candidates.”
In the mutt’s list, the 18 seats included Varkala, Chathannoor, Kollam, Chadayamangalam, Karunagappally,, Kayamkulam, Cherthala, Aroor, Konni, Ettumanoor, Udumbanchola, Kunnamkulam, Tripunithura, Vypeen, Palakkad, Kodungallur and Kaippamangalam.
Party sources said from Thiruvananthapuram to Kottayam there are only a handful of candidates from Ezhava community in the proposed list. “Many are being fielded in constituencies where CPM is winning. This would mean they will not see the assembly this time,” a source said.
Meanwhile, there is discontent among former KPCC presidents over the manner in which candidate selection was done. Sudheeran is upset after he was allegedly disregarded in the consultation process. Though it is common practice for the screening committee chairman to hold discussions with former KPCC heads, this time Madhusudan Mistry neither met Sudheeran nor sought his opinion, said sources.
“Except for KPCC president Sunny Joseph, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and AICC general secretaries K C Venugopal and Deepa Dasmunsi, none sought his opinion. Sudheeran reportedly proposed only one name to the KPCC president, but that too was not considered,” a source said. Sudheeran did not respond to TNIE’s calls and messages for comments.
The high command will likely finalise the candidate list for by Monday. The screening committee meeting was held in New Delhi on Friday night.