Congress dithers over four seats in Kerala as leaders bicker over Wayanad

New Delhi: A tug-of-war between the dominant factions of the Congress in Kerala has held up the selection of candidates in four Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The party high command has asked the state leaders to stay put in the national capital until they resolve a deadlock over the candidate for the Wayanad constituency.

The ‘A’ group in the state Congress, led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy, has lobbied hard for the seat to go to T Siddique but the ‘I’ faction would have none of it. The hard bargain has also delayed talks to decide on the candidates for Vadakara, Alappuzha and Attingal. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had said earlier that the party would announce the candidates for these constituencies on Sunday.

Chennithala and KPCC president Mullappalli Ramachandran have postponed their return travel to Kerala to iron out the differences. AICC general secretary Oommen Chandy is expected to fly back to Delhi Sunday night. He sought to play down the tussle as trivial.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to talk to senior leaders in Kerala before taking a call on the candidate selection for Wayanad, which is claimed by the ‘I’ group as their own.

Chennithala has proposed Shanimol Usman, P M Niyas and K P Abdul Majeed as possible candidates for Wayanad. Chandy, however, has been backing Siddique. V V Prakashan is also projected as a consensus candidate.

A section of the leaders want Siddique to contest from Vadakara but the young leader has not revealed his cards. The seat, currently held by Mullappally, may well go to another senior leader.

Usman is proposed to be a candidate for Alappuzha but there again consensus eludes the selection. Adoor Prakash has already started campaigning in Attingal but even his name is being mooted for Alappuzha.