Congress suffers another jolt in Kerala as senior leader PV Balachandran quits party

Congress suffers another jolt in Kerala as senior leader PV Balachandran quits party
PV Balachandran

The Congress in Kerala has suffered another setback as former DCC president P V Balachandran quit the party on Tuesday. Balachandran was a prominent leader of the party in Wayanad, the Lok Sabha segment represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

He severed his 52-year-long association with the party alleging that the grant old party has failed to check the growth of the BJP in the country.

Balachandran had recently locked horns with former DCC president I C Balakrishnan over the appointment to the Bathery Urban Bank. Balachadran had accused Balakrishnan of accepting lakhs of rupees as bribery for the appointments. Balakrishnan has not announced his future plans.

However, rumours are rife that he may join the CPM soon.

Announcing the decision at a press conference in Kalpetta, Balachandran, a member of the KPCC executive committee, said both majority and minority communities are moving away from the Congress and the people would not stand with a party which has lost its direction.

He also slammed the style of functioning of the Congress state leadership, alleging that they were not able to take a clear political stand on the issues affecting the people.

Balachandran said his decision to quit the party was based on the realisation that it will not be able to function anymore in accordance with the spirit of the Congress workers.

Balachandran's is the latest in the series of resignations happening in the Congress in Wayanad.

Former MLA K C Rosakutty, KPCC secretary M S Vishwanathan, and DCC general secretary Anil Kumar had quit the party before the Assembly polls held in the state in April this year.

Balachandran's decision to quit the party has also come as a setback for the current leadership of the Congress, which is rattled by the resignation of prominent leaders like K P Anil Kumar and P S Prasanth in protest against the style of functioning KPCC Chief K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition in the assembly V D Satheesan.

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