New Delhi: Knives are out in the Kerala Pradesh Congress with leaders of various factions coming face to face with KPCC president K Sudhakaran on the issue of organisational revamp in the state.
Soon after the KPCC president handed over the list of shortlisted candidates for being appointed as DCC presidents to the central leadership, group leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala shot of letters to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi registering their strong protest. The two leaders alleged that Sudhakaran failed to keep the word and did not hold consultations with them before finalising the list.
Besides, the leaders also conveyed their strong opposition over phone to Tariq Anwar, AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala.
Former KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran called up Tariq Anwar and told him that the state leadership failed to hold any consultation with him on the matter.
Meanwhile, Sudhakaran has clarified that groups in the Kerala unit of Congress were a thing of the past and group affiliations were not taken into consideration for the appointment of DCC presidents. Though Tariq Anwar had stated earlier that Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala would be summoned to Delhi in connection with the organisational revamp, that did not happen.
KPCC president Sudhakaran, opposition leader V D Satheeshan and working presidents Kodikkunil Suresh, P T Thomas and T Siddique held discussions in Delhi on Friday and Saturday before handing over the short list of DCC presidents to Tariq Anwar.
They also held consultations with AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. The list submitted by the Pradesh Congress leadership contains more than one name for DCC presidents in some of the districts. No MPs or MLAs figure in the list. There is no women representation either.
KPCC general secretary Prasanth suspended
KPCC general secretary P S Prasanth who contested from Nedumangad constituency in last assembly elections, was suspended from party for six months for publicly criticising the Congress leadership.
KPCC president K Sudhakaran announced the disciplinary action against Prasanth in Delhi soon after he questioned the leadership's decision to appoint DCC presidents without waiting for the report of the committee probing the reasons for party's defeat in recent assembly polls.
Former DCC president K Mohan Kumar will inquire into the alleged anti party activities of Prasanth. At a press conference here the other day, he alleged that with the Congress not implementing the reports of various probe commissions, the organisational machinery of the party had gone for a toss. Many persons who were named before the present committee by candidates for working against them in elections had figured in the list of probables for DCC president's post., he claimed.
He disagreed with the opinion of a section of leaders that the decision to field 52 new faces had resulted in the defeat of Congress in assembly polls. If the new faces were responsible for the loss then what led to the defeat of K Muraleedharan in Nemom, V S Sivakumar in Thirivananthapuram, V T Balram in Thrithala and M Liju in Ambalapuzha , he asked.
Senior leaders of the party are aware of the reasons for the defeat. There is a conspiracy by a section of veteran leaders to scuttle any future move for generational change in the party by raising such allegations, he said.
Without naming anyone Prasanth said the "Perunthachan mindset" of certain leaders that the party would not exist after their time, needs to change.
Many beleive that Prasanth came out with public criticism following reports that Palode Ravi might be appointed as Thiruvananthapuram DCC president.
Prasanth, who is aligned to the 'A' group, was earlier the vice chairman of Youth Welfare Board. He was also former district president of the Youth Congress.
