Factional Battle Intensifies In Congress In Kerala Again

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Recrudescence of the faction war in the Kerala unit of the Congress has taken the shine off the plenary session of the party which concluded in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on February 26.

The party in Kerala has clearly failed to imbibe the spirit of the unity call given out at the plenary session. The magnitude of the problem can be gauged from the manner in which senior party leaders from Kerala openly aired their vexation at Raipur itself. Senior leader and former KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala fired the first salvo against the state leadership. He crossed swords with leader of the opposition VD Satheesan over the ‘arbitrary nomination’ of at least 60 Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) members who were empowered to attend the Raipur plenary. The process of consultation, Ramesh alleged, had become a thing of the past. And if his defiant mood is any indication, Chennithala is set to up the ante.

Chennithala is not the only leader to let off steam against the KPCC leadership. KPCC working president Kodikkunnil Suresh, MP, has also lashed out at the reluctance of the KPCC leadership to adopt a consensus approach on organizational matters. An angry Suresh has already moved the party high command against the ‘arbitrary’ nominations. The AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, obviously, has his task cut out.

Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, however, rejected Chennithala’s contention. He said consultations did take place. The only difference is that, unlike in the past, the KPCC leadership has refused to be browbeaten by the leaders of the two dominant groups in the Kerala unit, the A and the I groups led, respectively, by Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala. It can be said without fear of being contradicted that the faction war in Kerala is all set to resume with greater vigour.

Clearly, the two groups are in no mood to take things lying down. They are determined to stoutly oppose the inordinate delay in the organizational revamp. The groups have in fact threatened to resort to non- cooperation if their interests are not addressed soon. And they have suggested that a state-0level scrutinizing committee be set up to finalise the names.

That there would be trouble in the coming days is clear from the open expression of their annoyance with KPCC chief K Sudhakaran’s style of functioning by Kodikkunnil Suresh and P C Vishnunath, a staunch Oommen Chandy loyalist. Adding insult to injury is the refusal to the state leadership to release the list of co-opted AICC members from Kerala.

In another development, which bodes ill for the party in Kerala, Congress MP from Kozhikode M K Raghavan has accused the state leadership of indulging in the “use and throw” of leaders and accommodating only those who flattered the powers that be. Raghavan had gone hammer and tongs against Sudhakaran. Things have come to such a pass that the leadership simply cannot accept criticism. No one in the party is ready to say openly that the king is naked emperor, Raghavan, who is a staunch supporter of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. Raghavan contended that inner-party democracy has been restored in other parties including in the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second most powerful partner in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the State. Unless deserving leaders are encouraged and sycophants sidelined, the party is in for more electoral debacles, Raghavan pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Kozhikode DCC president K Praveen Kumar has given a report to the KPCC president on the programme in Kozhikode where Raghavan launched a broadside against the KPCC leadership. But he is in no position to take disciplinary action against Raghavan who is a Member of Parliament. As Raghavan is an MP, only the Congress High Command can act against him. All that Sudhakaran can do is to recommend action against Raghavan, according to party sources. Whatever the denouement, one thing is for sure. The tug of war will only intensify in the coming days, posing problems for the Congress in the State. (IPA Service)