THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The going is getting tough for Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala whereas Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is comfortably placed in the group-ridden Congress politics.
Mr Chennithala, leader of the ‘I’ faction, has not been able to garner the full support of his followers in many cases, including the killing of a Congress ‘A’ leader in Thrissur and the corruption charges in Consumerfed.
Ever since the murder of A. C. Haneefa, local ‘A’ group leaders at Chavakkad, both the factions in Thrissur DCC have been fighting it out.
While the ‘A’ faction claims that Cooperation Minister and ‘I’ group leader C. N. Balakrishnan is behind the killing, the ‘I’ camp has turned against Thrissur DCC president O. Abdurahman Kutty.
Though Mr Chennithala visited Thrissur immediately after the killing, he couldn’t contain the feud which has since snowballed into a major controversy.
“Hence the KPCC president had to call a meeting of Thrissur DCC leaders in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday night. He is losing ground whereas Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s image has brightened,” said a Congress source.
But another Congress leader said the feud in Thrissur DCC would not have occurred without Mr Chennithala’s silent nod. His own police team was probing the killing of Haneefa.
“Tomin J. Thachankary was appointed as Consumerfed managing director and then removed last Wednesday. Chennithala said it was a communication gap,” said a source.
The double standard of the party in the case of some leaders was apparent in the case of Neyyattinkara municipal chairman S.S.Jayakumar.. Though the KPCC had suspended him from the primary membership of the party, he is still holding the post.
He had come under the wrath of PCC chief V. M. Sudheeran for giving a no-objection certificate for setting up a beer parlour at Alamoodu against the party’s stand against liquor sale.
