Thiruvananthapuram: Hours after Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge reconsituted Congress Working Committee, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala expressed his disappointment over the party's decision to name him as a permanant invitee of the CWC. It is rumoured that Chennithala is not pleased with the inclusion of Shashi Tharoor in CWC as all eyes were on his entry as CWC member following the demise of Oommen Chandy.
Chennithala who is currently camping in Puthuppally for the byelection campaign refused to comment on AICC's decision to appoint Tharoor in CWC. Tharoor replaced Oommen Chandy in CWC. A K Antony, K C Venugopal and Oomen Chandy represented Kerala in CWC.
Interestingly, A K Antony who is not active in politics due to age related issues and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal are also named as CWC members in the new list.
“Permanant invitee post is nothing new to me. I served in the post 19 years ago. The party announced the members of CWC without holding any talks with the members. I will declare my stance before the party leadership. At present, I'm not inererested in any public response over the matter,” said Chennithala.
AICC has included Shashi Tharoor in the CWC by ignoring senior leaders in Kerala. When Chennithala is appointed as permanant invitee, Kodikunnil Suresh is named as special invitee. Apart from Tharoor, A K Antony and K C Venugopal are the other members of the CWC.
Sources close to the party hinted that party included Tharoor in the CWC to avoid a controversy. Chennithala was named as permanant invitee as two persons from same community are not included in the CWC, said reports.
The new CWC has 39 regular members, 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state, and 13 special invitees, including presidents of the Youth Congress, the National Students' Union of India, the Mahila Congress and the Seva Dal as ex-officio members.
