In a jolt for the Congress in Kerala ahead of the Assembly polls, senior leader and former Kerala minister and Member of Parliament PC Chacko resigned from the party on Wednesday. Announcing his decision to the media, PC Chacko expressed his deep displeasure over the ‘groupism’ within the Congress. He told the media that candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls are being decided by top leaders of the two major factions within the party in the state — the faction called ‘I’ headed by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and the one called ‘A,’ led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. He added that no discussions are held collectively inside the party.
“One can no longer remain as a Congress party worker, can only sustain as part of groups,” PC Chacko said. He also stated that seats for the Assembly polls are being shared by I and A groups and that no one, other than top leaders of the party, knows who is being considered.
“In the case of majority of seats, no one apart from Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy knows who is being considered for candidature. The All Indian Congress Committee has made a 40-member election committee in the state, but no discussions are taking place in it,” he stated, alleging that merit or winnability is not being considered by the faction leaders. PC Chacko is one of the members of the election committee formed by the High Command.
Chacko also hit out at the Congress High Command, stating that even the national leadership is not discouraging this ‘groupism.’ He added that he has submitted his resignation letter to Rahul Gandhi and Kerala Congress Pradesh Committee (KPCC) President Mullappally Ramachandran.
“I have tried to rectify the party. But now I have understood that it cannot be done, that is why I’m resigning. I hope my resignation will open the eyes of the leadership,” he added.
“This is a crucial election, we will have to fight a tough battle with the left, unfortunately, groups are only focused on sharing seats,” he said, adding, “I cannot agree to this anymore. I have no personal issue here. I always wanted to stand apart from the groups. VM Sudheeran was a good KPCC president. But he was suffocated by the groups in Congress.”
He also made it clear that he does not want to stand in the upcoming state Assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held on April 6. Chacko was one of the few Congress leaders who had come out stating that those who had been elected into Assembly four times should not be allowed to contest in the upcoming polls.