Senior leaders of the Congress in Kerala sat together for talks on Monday amid the in-house crisis triggered by the ongoing restructuring of the party's state unit. KPCC president K Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, who take the calls in the party at the moment, met with veteran leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala in Thiruvananthapuram. Chandy and Chennithala, who head the A and I factions respectively, have been sulking over the restructuring process which challenged their clout over the organisation.
The four leaders came together for first time after they engaged in a war of words. After the meeting, Sudhakaran said all issues within the party have been settled. He said there was no need of Tariq Anwar, the AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, to come to the state for reconciliatory talks now.
There were reports that the factions led by Chandy and Chennithala were planning to complain to the party high command against Anwar who they alleged had been siding with the new leadership.
As a first gesture of reconciliation, Satheesan had met Chandy and Chennithala on Sunday.
The state leadership also held bilateral talks with the allies of the United Democratic Front (UDF) headed by the Congress. Sudhakaran and Satheesan met leaders of the RSP and Indian Union Muslim League separately ahead of the alliance's meeting.
The IUML expressed anguish over the infighting within the Congress. To this, the Congress leadership promised to resolve all the problems and ensure unity within the party.
The meeting with RSP leaders followed open criticism by them against the Congress over the recent developments within the main opposition party. After the meeting, the RSP leadership said they were satisfied with the talks and made it clear that the party would remain within the opposition front.
"RSP is an inevitable part of the UDF. We will take both short term and longterm steps to address the concerns raised by its leaders," Satheesan, who is also the UDF chairman, said after the meet.
Sudhakaran said there was no issues between the Congress and the RSP as was reported widely. "There is no difference of opinion between us. Those who expect otherwise will be disappointed," he said.
RSP chief A A Azis said his party was satisfied with the talks. "The Congress leaders discussed the issues raised by us comprehensively and have promised to solve them," he said.
