THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran showing disapproval on the tweaking of the liquor policy, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy clarified that he had not called the Congress Legislative Party meeting on Monday.
He told reporters in Kottayam that he had not called any meeting of Congress MLAs.
Meanwhile Congress MLA T. N. Prathapan wrote an open letter to Chandy stating that only the PCC chief could call a meeting of Congress legislators.
Sources told DC that Chandy was keen not to show that he was at loggerheads with Sudheeran and hence had maintained that he had not called the CLP meeting.
But, Chandy said that since he was out of Thiruvananthapuram for the last two days, he had invited those MLAs who had expressed their desire to meet him, to come over to his official residence, Cliff House.
“There is no meeting of legislators as reported in the media”, said Chandy. However, since Chandy has categorically said that those MLAs who are interested in meeting him to air their views on the liquor policy can meet him, the purpose is being met.
Meanwhile ‘A’ group leaders are likely to severely oppose the stand taken by Sudheeran for putting the Government on the defensive on Monday’s crucial meeting.
A senior Congress MLA told DC that chances of deciding to hold the KPCC executive meeting in the immediate future would be discussed in tomorrow’s legislators meet.
He also informed that most of the Congress MLAs and DCC presidents were expected to meet Chandy. But T. N. Prathapan is leaving for Doha as per his earlier plans.
“Since Sudheeran has the support of only a handful of leaders in the KPCC executive, he is not very keen to hold it.
In the last KPCC executive meeting when Sudheeran spoke on the liquor policy, most of the senior leaders were not there.
Joseph Vazhakkan MLA and senior Congress leader M. M. Jacob had expressed their displeasure over the liquor policy citing that it was not a practical one. Only after repeated efforts, Vazhakkan could air his views”, said a Congress MLA to DC.
The high powered committee meeting of KPCC - Government coordination committee is also likely to be called in the near future as the demand by Congress MLA K. Muraleedharan to convene it is more than a week old now.
