Mattathur vice president to quit, support for president intact: TM Chandran amid no-confidence threat
Chandran said the Panchayat President, Tessy Mathew, had contested and won as a Congress rebel candidate, and therefore, cannot be asked resign.
Chandran said the Panchayat President, Tessy Mathew, had contested and won as a Congress rebel candidate, and therefore, cannot be asked resign.
Chandran said the Panchayat President, Tessy Mathew, had contested and won as a Congress rebel candidate, and therefore, cannot be asked resign.
Even as KPCC leadership warned of a no-confidence motion against office bearers who secured posts with BJP support, suspended Congress leader TM Chandran said the Mattathur panchayat president would continue in office, with the vice president set to step down as part of a compromise.
TM Chandran, the former DCC general secretary who was suspended from the Congress, said he would stand by the decision taken by the party in Mattathur. Though Noorjahan Navas, who became vice president of the panchayat with BJP support, will resign from her post, Chandran said the panchayat president cannot be asked to step down. “Panchayat president Tessy Mathew contested and won as a Congress rebel candidate and therefore cannot be asked to resign. There is no question of withdrawing support at present,” he said.
Chandran said he was not thinking about his future in the party and maintained that he had not committed any mistakes. Stating that matters related to the election were now known to both the party and the general public, he denied having any role in them. “Only those who have committed mistakes need to admit them, and there are people within the party who should do so. The DCC has made mistakes, including in candidate selection,” he said.
Roji M John, representing KPCC president Sunny Joseph, had earlier said at a press conference in Angamaly that a no-confidence motion would be moved if those who won positions with BJP support continued as office bearers.
“The party is taking the issue of Congress members in Mattathur accepting BJP support very seriously. Congress members have not joined the BJP. The president contested as an independent candidate and there are limitations on issuing a whip. Those who secured positions with BJP votes must step down. We will consider a no-confidence motion otherwise. There should be no understanding or compromise with the BJP,” he said.
However, reports suggest that the KPCC has agreed to allow Tessy Mathew to continue as panchayat president as part of a tacit arrangement with the rebels, with vice president Noorjahan Navas stepping down instead.