Palakkad: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and Member of Parliament K Sudhakaran on Monday said the party's stand regarding the DCC chiefs' list has been clarified and it was not going back on it for more discussions.
Sudhakaran asked everyone to "wait for six months" to see the changes in the Congress party here. The selection of 14 presidents of the District Congress Committee (DCC) in Kerala has created a rift in the party with several senior party leaders, like Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, coming out openly against the manner in which the selection was carried out.
Speaking to the media here, Sudhakaran said the party cannot move forward if it keeps discussing only this issue daily and therefore, for the good of the party it has been decided to "close the chapter".
Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy told the media here that discussions with Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan with regard to the selection of DCC chiefs was incomplete.
Only one round of discussions were held as against Sudhakaran's claim that two rounds of talks were held, Chandy said. Subsequently, when Sudhakaran spoke to the media he said the party needs Chandy and Chennithala always with it and wants them to cooperate with it. On the resignation of senior leader and ex-MLA A V Gopinath from the primary membership of the party, the KPCC president said he was confident that Gopinath will not leave the Congress.
Sudhakaran said that he has a close relationship with Gopinath and was sure that the latter would not leave him and go. He said that he would take the required steps for bringing him back to the party. Gopinath, a former president of the Palakkad DCC and a member of the KPCC, said he was ending his 50-year-long association with the Congress party. Announcing the resignation from the party at a press conference here, the senior leader said he would not like to continue as a stumbling block in the progress of the party for which he worked tirelessly for the last five decades. Supporters of Gopinath had pressed for his appointment to the post of Palakkad DCC chief but the leadership selected A Thankappan to lead the party in the district.
Gopinath, who enjoys grassroot level support, had alleged that he had been sidelined in the party for the past many years and said he would not take the matter lightly. While addressing the media here, Sudhakaran also said that while no timeline has been fixed by the high command for finalising the list of KPCC members as well as the leadership at the block and panchayat level, it will be done "at the earliest". He asked everyone to wait for six months more to see the changes in the Congress party here.
