The tussle in the state unit of the Congress party in Kerala over the selection of new District Congress Committee chiefs has not gone down well in the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF), with key partners Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) saying that the open slugfest in that party will adversely affect the prospects of the alliance.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, leaders of ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions in the party respectively, have expressed displeasure over the selection of DCC presidents alleging that no discussions were held prior to this. However, the present Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan and state Congress chief K Sudhakaran, have hit back.
Muslim League leader Panakkad Sadiq Ali Thangal said he believed that the appointment of the new DCC chiefs will strengthen the Congress, but made it clear that the open slugfest will hurt the interest of the front. Another senior Muslim League leader and former minister MK Muneer said that the Congress has the capability to solve its internal problems. Talking to a news channel, Muneer, however, opined that the Congress would not go ahead by ignoring Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala. "I believe that the party will take all on board," Muneer said.
The RSP has threatened to boycott the next meeting of the UDF if the coalition leadership failed to address the issues raised by it. Party leader Shibu Baby John alleged that the Congress was a ship "being sunk by its leaders themselves" and could not blame those who tried to escape from it. The RSP lost all its strongholds in Kollam district and had drawn a blank in the Assembly polls in April this year. The party leaders alleged that Congress leaders failed to address the issues raised by it on the front's failure in the polls.
The selection of 14 presidents of the District Congress Committee (DCC) in Kerala has created a rift in the party with several senior party leaders like Chandy and Chennithala coming out openly against the manner in which the selection was carried out.
Some leaders who have switched over to the side of new leadership have started openly challenging their role in the party. Kasaragod MP and senior leader Rajmohan Unnithan even asked Chandy and Chennithala sarcastically to form their own party if they wanted only their nominees as presidents of all the DCCs. With the coalition partners expressing their displeasure over the developments in the Congress, senior party leaders did not make much public comments on August 31.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan chose to distance himself from the row, saying the dispute over the list was a "closed chapter". Satheesan said he did not want to comment further on the DCC list row or the allegations raised by leaders and any issue related to the organisation would be made clear by KPCC chief K Sudhakaran. When asked about the expulsion and suspension of leaders in connection with their reactions on the DCC list, he said not just political parties, but every organisation has its own framework within which its members can function.
Meanwhile, the raging controversy in the Congress over the list of new DCC chiefs is yet to die down as expelled KPCC secretary PS Prasanth continued to level serious charges against AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and the state party leadership on Tuesday. Prasanth, who was expelled from the Congress after he wrote to the high command alleging that Venugopal was working as "an agent of the BJP," said here that only those who have "direct or indirect commitment" to him had been included in the DCC list. Announcing the resignation from the primary membership, he also said he was ending his 30-year-long political life in the grand old party with utmost pain in the present circumstance.
A candidate in the Nedumangad constituency in the April 6 Assembly polls, he also said his 'bad experiences' from the party leadership post election had forced him to take such an extreme step. He said though he had complained against senior leader and ex-MLA Palode Ravi for allegedly trying to defeat him during the Assembly elections, the party state leadership had given him a "promotion" as DCC president.
Rejecting the charges, senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP Kodikkunnil Suresh said Venugopal did not intervene in the selection of DCC chiefs. Besides Prasanth, AV Gopinath, a former president of the Palakkad DCC and a member of the KPCC, had said on Monday that he was ending his 50-year-long association with the Congress party. Supporters of Gopinath had pressed for his appointment to the post of Palakkad DCC chief, but the leadership selected A Thankappan to lead the party in the district.