Political Affairs Committee meeting on all second Saturdays'

Thiruvananthapuram: The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the KPCC held here decided to convene PAC meetings on all second Saturdays. The decision was taken at the PAC meeting held here on Saturday in view of the convenience of all members including MPs who would otherwise find it difficult to attend the meeting when the Parliament is in session.

The meeting decided to hold a series of agitations to highlight the hardship faced by people due to demonetisation, said KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran reporters here. Mr Sudheeran said that a convention would be held here on January 21. The RBI office in Kochi would be picketed on February 9.

The party was also planning a massive state-level rally attended by national leaders in Kochi on March 4, he said. Mr Sudheeran said that the priority of the party was to strengthen the party at the grassroot level.

The priority now was to reconstitute grassroot-level party committees. The decision on reconstituting, the KPCC would be taken only later. The decision to reconstitute the DCC first was taken after discussions, Mr Sudheeran said.

The party in the state would move unitedly to face the challenges posed by the “anti-people” policies of the Modi government at the Centre, and the LDF government in the state, Sudheeran said.

Chandy keeps off PAC meet
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy kept off the Political Affairs Committee  meeting held at the KPCC office here on Saturday making it amply clear that he  has not come to terms with the selection of DCC presidents ignoring his group.

The party leaders were divided over the stand taken by Mr Chandy with  Mr K. Muraleedharan and Mr Mullappally Ramchandran backing him  and Mr P.J. Kurian  criticising him. 

The former wanted the  party to take Mr Chandy into confidence while Mr  Kurian said that  it was  wrong on the part of Mr Chandy, who had earned many rewards from the Congress,  to take such an adamant  position.

Mr Chandy in a Facebook post said that he would leave for Delhi on Sunday to meet vice-president Rahul Gandhi and return on January 17. He reiterated that he had  not said anything on the selection of  DCC presidents. But he had clear views on the issue and that  would be conveyed to the high command, he added.

KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran and AICC general secretary K.V. Thankabalu played down the issue saying that Mr  Chandy had stayed away due to personal inconvenience. Mr  Sudheeran said that the general view was that Mr Chandy should have attended the meeting. He claimed that there were  no issues between Mr Chandy and the party in the state.

“Chandy who has been an integral part of the Congress had been attending all the programmes of the party,” Mr Sudheeran said. Mr  Thankabalu  described Mr Chandy as one of the tallest leaders not only of the state but at the national level.   “There are no issues between the party and Mr Chandy.  It  always heard the views of Mr Chandy before finalising the  stand,” he said.