Congress reopens infighting

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress party in Kerala has reopened its infighting after long 8 years, with indications that an imminent intervention by the party high command in Delhi is likely.

The two groups within the state Congress—‘I’ and ‘A’—are at loggerheads over giving Home Ministry to KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala.

The ‘I’ group that supports Ramesh alleged that the ‘A’ group, that backs chief minister Oommen Chandy, has humiliated him by first offering him a cabinet berth as deputy chief minister or home minister and later retracting from it.

The ‘A’ group, however, says there had been no such promise and that Chennithala had never been keen to be in the cabinet.

A report in an English daily that claimed Ramesh Chennithala had expressed his resentment with chief minister Oommen Chandy, saying the chief minister could “go his own way” has stirred up a hornet’s nest.

Chennithala, talking to media persons on Wednesday, denied the report and said he has not given any interview to any newspaper or person. But Ramesh has not denied what he “told” in the alleged interview.

Though senior leaders Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K. Sudhakaran said it was unlikely that Chennithala would make such a statement, the tussle between the two groups worsened.

All indications are that the party high command will mediate to get the ‘I’ and ‘A’ camps to resolve the crisis involving the senior-most leaders in the party’s state unit.

Last week, speculation was rife that a final call on the issue would be made after prodding the mind of Defence Minister A K Antony, whose views are considered as the last word in Kerala party affairs. But Antony distanced himself from the issue stating that this was a matter to be decided between the Chief Minister and KPCC president and he need not be dragged into it.

Chennithala was seen as a possible contender for the chief ministership when he entered the fray in the Assembly polls in 2011 and won from Harippad segment in Alappuzha district. But he refrained from throwing his hat in the race against Chandy as the UDF could only muster a wafer thin majority of 72 seats in the 140-member Assembly.

Both Chandy and Chennithala have since claimed that they have a smooth working arrangement based on perfect understanding.

Though Chandy has left the invitation open to Chennithala to join the ministry anytime he wants, the latter has resisted the temptation thinking that becoming a minister with a minor portfolio would mar his long-term prospects as a central political player in the state.

However, according to sources in Congress, the real worry of Chennithala is that he might have to step down as the KPCC chief anytime as he had been heading the state unit for over eight years, in tune with the party's line of bringing new faces to head organisational tasks.