Thiruvananthapuram, August 15 (BPNS)
The senior Congress leaders of Kerala, former Chief Minister, Oomen Chandy, and former state opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala is likely to brief Rahul Gandhi on the cold shouldering meted out to them by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC ) president, K. Sudhakaran in finalizing the shortlist of District Congress Committee( DCC) Presidents.
AICC former President and Member of Parliament from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi is on a three day visit in his constituency from 16th of August.
It may be noted that the Congress high command has said that it won’t budge on the pressure exerted by senior leaders of the party in the postings of new District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents in all the fourteen districts of the state.
An office bearer of the All India Congress Committee who is privy to the developments in the state Congress while speaking to BPNS on Sunday said, “This is the best time for the Congress high-command to put an end to the group equations in state Congress. The party high command is taking the state Congress chief along with his team of working presidents into confidence. The state Congress chief has already presented a list of DCC presidents to be chosen by the party high command and we will go ahead with that.”
This statement of the party, senior office-bearer is a clear reflection that high command won’t budge to the pressure tactics of the senior Kerala leaders.
Oommen Chandy who is heading the “A” group of the state Congress and , Ramesh Chenntihala who is heading the “I” group had complained the party high command that they were not taken into confidence by the new state president K. Sudhakaran MP before shortlisting the names of candidates for DCC presidents.
It is to be recalled that Ramesh Chennthala was the opposition leader in the period of 2016 to 2021 in state assembly and he was removed by the new opposition leader V.D. Satheeshan without properly consulting Chennithala and Chandy . Both leaders had incidentally set aside their differences and had proposed the name of Chennithala as a unanimous choice. However, the high command had other ideas and replaced Chennithala with Satheeshan who is much junior in state politics.
After the drubbing in the 2021 assembly polls, it was certain that the axe would fall on the state Congress Chief, Mullappally Ramachandran and he was replaced by the strongman from Kannur, K. Sudhakaran.
The party high-command along with the senior leaders of Kerala had decided upon that there need a total revamp of the state Congress unit and as a prelude to this the DCC’s were to be revamped and a shortlist of probable candidates was handed over to the party national leadership.
Chandy and Chennithala is sulking over the fact that the state Congress chief did not inform them that the list was being handed over to the party high-command.
The senior leaders, wanted their own people to be foisted in crucial positions on group lines and the high command has openly said that this would not happen.
The state Congress which is nursing its wounds from the heavy drubbing it received during the assembly elections will have to face another major issue if the list of DCC presidents are declared without final consent from the senior leaders.
Meanwhile former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee( KPCC ) chief’s Mullappally Ramachandran, K . Muraleedharan and V.M. Sudheeran also came out in the open that they were not consulted before the final list was handed over to New Delhi.
K. Muraleedharan, Member of Parliament and former KPCC president while speaking to BPNS said, “The state Congress has the potential to move ahead and to defeat the CPM-led left front. The final list of party DCC presidents should have been presented to the high command with ample consultations with all concerned. Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chenntihala are senior leaders who had contributed immensely to the growth of Congress in Kerala.”
KPCC chief K. Sudhakaran has commenced fire fighting exercise and has already met the former KPCC president V. M.Sudheeran at the latter’s residence in a bid to pacify the sulking leader who had come out in the open that he was not consulted before the list was presented to New Delhi.
With the Congress high command adamant to put an end to the group exercises in the state Congress, it seems that the final laugh will be for the KPCC president and the list he had presented to New Delhi is likely to be considered by the high command without much change.
