THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has communicated to central election authority chairman Mullappally Ramachandran his disapproval of the 282-member governing council list, submitted by the KPCC. The KPCC leadership had refused to make changes suggested by MPs, MLAs, youth leaders and “revive movement” of former Youth Congress leaders. With Mr Gandhi’s disapproval, the KPCC is forced to make changes on its list. Mr Gandhi got irked by the barrage of complaints he had been receiving over the last several months. He asked AICC general secretary in charge of the state, Mukul Wasnik, to find out the discrepancies on the list. But when the solar judicial commission “recommendations” came out, the AICC leadership got a rude shock.
They realised that the list had reached the media. Leaders who failed to get onto the list realised that the KPCC leadership was shifting the blame to the AICC. Armed with the leaked list, the young leaders rushed to the AICC headquarters and pointed out that veterans in the age group of 65 – 70 years have sneaked in under the “new faces” category. “Wasnik painstakingly categorised each leader's age as well as the community. Mr Gandhi realised that the KPCC leadership had duped them by including three young MLAs under the Youth Congress category and Dalit, women and youth leaders have got minimal representation,” said an AICC leader.
As per the AICC leadership, their concept was that leaders between 35 – 45 years fall under the youth category, 45 – 55 years new faces and those above 55 senior leaders. What irked Mr Gandhi further was that the way in which the group leaders owing allegiance to Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy put the AICC under pressure during the selection of candidates in the 2016 Assembly elections.
Now the situation is that Mr Ramachandran has gone incommunicado. He did not even attend the crucial high power Political Affairs Committee meeting Saturday. On Sunday, former KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran and the lone woman leader in the PAC Shanimol Usman came out with harsh words against the KPCC leadership.
