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Jose K Mani sabotaged peace moves: Joy Abraham

He said the legacy of the late leader should not be appropriated by any single person as the thousands of workers have a claim to it.

KOTTAYAM: Joy Abraham, a close confidant of the late Kerala Congress supremo K.M. Mani, says his son Jose K. Mani sabotaged all peace moves.P.J. Joseph was even willing to sacrifice his position as the working chairman.

He was explaining to Deccan Chronicle the circumstances that led him to shift his loyalty to Mr Joseph.

He said the legacy of the late leader should not be appropriated by any single person as the thousands of workers have a claim to it.

The party constitution allows the working chairman to assume the position in the absence of the chair. "When I informed Jose K. Mani of Mr Joseph's rightful claim, he asked me the means to bypass the provisions, to which I said no way," Mr Abraham said.

He said, though a few formulas were before him, he shunned them.

One was to elect C.F. Thomas as chairman, Mr Joseph as parliamentary party leader and Jose K Mani as Working chairman.

"Mr Joseph was initially unenthusiastic about that proposal, and he told me that it was the post created at the time of the merger in 2010 as Mr Mani was both party chairman and parliamentary party leader," he said.

"Though it was a bit difficult to part with that post, he said he was ready to discuss even that option. Though it was a reasonable formula, he said he was not willing for compromise talks, shutting the door."

Mr Abraham's outburst comes at a time when both factions are doing their best to appropriate and assert their claim to the party infrastructure.

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