New Delhi: The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) has made it clear that Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President K Sudhakaran and Opposition Leader in the Assembly V D Satheesan would be taking forward the Congress party in Kerala. If anything goes wrong, they will be made accountable.
According to the party high command, this was the line followed by Rahul Gandhi when senior leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala were at the helm of affairs in the Kerala party unit. So, the AICC wants both the senior leaders to extend cooperation to ensure complete freedom for Sudhakran and Satheesan to run the party affairs in the State.
Reacting to the outbursts by certain leaders on the selection of new presidents for the District Congress Committees (DCC), the party top brass said the latest appointment process marks a new beginning, quite different from the usual practices followed in the State Congress unit.
There would not be any group considerations anymore. It is true that those who belonged to 'A' and 'I' factions were made the DCC presidents. Apart from considering the names suggested by Chandy and Chennithala, the opinions of the MPs and senior leaders were heard. The senior leaders were given a say in the selection of DCC presidents in their respective district. This was why in Alappuzha and Kottayam, the names suggested by Chennithala and Chandy respectively were made DCC presidents. This convention would be continued in future too, the high command clarified.
As senior leaders, Chandy and Chennithala need to be consulted. But from now onwards, all decisions on the Kerala party affairs would not rest on the basis of their approval, the AICC sources told Manorama.
The high command viewed that Satheesan, Sudhakaran, KPCC working presidents T Siddique and P T Thomas were no more part of group mechanism in the party. Once a close follower of Chandy, Siddique has distanced himself from the 'A' group of late.
