Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC president M. M. Hassan's repentance on putting pressure on K. Karunakaran to quit over the ISRO espionage case has dampened the spirit in the Congress camp rejuvenated by the success of Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala's Padayorukkam. They all are now baying for his blood.
A day after taking to the Facebook to assert his loyalty to A. K. Antony and Oommen Chandy, Mr Hassan on Thursday reiterated his allegiance to them again. While inaugurating the 133rd birth anniversary of the Indian National Congress here, he said the two and Vayalar Ravi had been his leaders all along.
Rumours are rife that Mr Hassan will no longer be taken into confidence by the ‘A’ group for putting them in the wrong dock. An ‘A’ group leader told DC that he lacked ‘self-confidence’ which resulted in his revelation. He feels he should have disowned it the next day.
“But unfortunately he remained stoic and went on to add that he is firm in his stand. So far Mr Chandy has remained tight-lipped. But he would react at an appropriate time,” he said. Mr Antony who celebrated his 78th birthday on Thursday is also tight-lipped. He was recuperating at his New Delhi home after a minor brain haemorrhage last month. At the same time, there are reports that Mr Hassan has the backing of Mr Chennithala and V. M. Sudheeran, his predecessor. “It did not go down well with the ‘A’ camp as they tried to whitewash Mr Antony in the ISRO case after two decades,” said an ‘I’ group leader. However, another top ‘I’ group leader Joseph Vazhakkan has defended Mr Hassan saying there was nothing wrong with being remorseful.
He said Mr Hassan was one of the leading warriors of ‘A’ group and Congress parliamentary party secretary then relentlessly supported Mr Chandy during the controversy demanding a change of guard. “So there is nothing wrong in Hassan repenting his misdeeds now in full public glare. Probably it was only Mr Antony who did not take an open stand in removing Mr Karunakaran from office as he was based in New Delhi then,” said Mr Vazhakkan.
