THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress came under sharp attack from the allies at the UDF meeting here over the factionalism in the party.
The meeting was called to discuss the pre-poll convention and seat-sharing for the local body elections. KC (M) MLA C. F. Thomas said that the factionalism was worse than that in the CPM.
Mr Thomas also criticized Mr Sudheeran for his comment against the finance department regarding agriculture land at a programme at Kuttanad, which Mr Sudheeran denied.
Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala remained silent when Mr. Thomas raised the issue.
JD (U) president M. P. Veerendra Kumar lamented that during the last local body elections they had over 400 seats, which had since disappeared. KC (J) chairman Johnny Nelloore and RSP secretary A. A. Azeez also demanded more seats for their respective parties.
All the allies demanded that rebel Congress leaders should not be put in the fray from the allies’ seats. They wanted a state-level mechanism to curb such moves.
RSP leader and Labour Minister Shibu Baby John criticized the Congress for not reacting against the BJP’s attack, but CMP leader C. P. John defended the party.
