The Congress is set to announce the new district chiefs in Kerala with the party finalising the list after weeks-long discussions.
The state leadership has handed over the final list of all 14 new District Congress Committee presidents to party president Sonia Gandhi, Manorama News reported. An official announcement is expected later in the day.
The names of DCC chiefs in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Kottayam, Wayanad and Kasaragod districts were finalised at the last minute.
As per the list accessed by Manorama News, senior leader Palode Ravi will head the party's Thiruvananthapuram unit. The decision to pick Ravi, a loyalist of Oommen Chandy, has come as a gain for the A group led by the former chief minister.
While the list has acknowledged a considerable number of nominees by Chandy, the I faction led by Ramesh Chennithala has only nominal representation.
The proposed names are as follows; Thiruvananthapuram -- Palode Ravi, Kollam -- Rajendra Prasad, Pathanamthitta -- Satheesh Kochuparambil, Alappuzha -- K P Sreekumar, Idukki -- S Ashokan, Kottayam -- Philson Mathews, Ernakulam -- Muhammed Shiyas, Thrissur -- Jose Vallloor, Palakkad -- A Thankappan, Kozhikode -- K Praveenkumar, Malappuram -- V S Joy, Wayanad -- N D Appachan, Kannur -- Martin George and Kasaragod -- P K Faisal.
Rajendra Prasad (Kollam) is a nominee of KPCC working president Kodikkunnil Suresh. Earlier there were disputes within the party leadership over his name considering his age. However, Suresh, the Mavelikkara MP, stood firm on his demand to make Rajendra Prasad the DCC chief. Satheesh Kochuparambil is a nominee of senior leader P J Kurien who calls the shots at the party's Pathanamthitta unit.
K P Sreekumar of Alappuzha is a nominee of AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. Sreekumar was picked over Chennithala's nominee Babu Prasad. S Ashokan of Idukki is the only nominee of Chennithala in the list.
Philson mathews of Kottayam is an Oommen Chandy loyalist. Muhammed Shiyas who will head the Ernakulam DCC is close to Leader of the Opposition V D satheesan. Ernakulam is Satheesan's home district. Though Shiyas belongs to the I group, it was Satheesan's support that helped him.
Similarly, Martin George is a loyalist of K Sudhakaran. K Praveen Kumar was nominated for Kozhikode by Vadakara MP K Muraleedharan.
Interestingly, Appachan of Wayanad found a place in the list as a nominee of Rahul Gandhi who represents the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.
