THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second-rung leaders of the Congress party are a frustrated lot. After toiling for the party for several years, they are left behind in the race for power and positions which have been grabbed by the senior leaders. This grievance is nursed especially by those who are not attached to any faction. Among them, former MLA K. Mohankumar became a member of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission, while the others are nursing their wounds. Thiruvananthapuram DCC president Neyyatinkara Sanal told the KPCC recently that he could not ensure the presence of DCC leaders for party programmes.
KPCC president M. M. Hassan also felt the heat at the inauguration of Janasadassu programme at Indira Bhavan when the venue had to be shifted due to thin attendance from the spacious Rajiv Gandhi auditorium to the room where normally press conferences are held. The majority of the lower-level leaders prefer to chuck active politics. They desire that the KPCC and AICC should consider their seniority for appointments to various posts. “I entered active Congress politics in 1980 and faced police torture several times. The injuries are still bothering me. Since I am not attached to any faction, I have reached nowhere. I also lack the financial backing to climb the echelons of power,” a KPCC secretary told DC.
He has to travel to another district for 14 - 17 days every month to attend party programmes and requires a minimum of '25, 000 for the expenses. He is not surprised when several politicians are branded as “corrupt.” Senior leaders like A. K. Antony, Oommen Chandy, V. M. Sudheeran, M. M. Hassan, K. C. Joseph and the late G. Karthikeyan could afford to be in politics because their spouses were working, he said. “The spouses of the new generation KSU/Youth Congress leaders like V. S. Joy and Dean Kuriakose are either MBA holders/medical doctors or have sound financial backing. Before marriage, Antony and KPCC general secretary Thampanoor Ravi worked as LIC agents to meet their daily needs,” said the general secretary.
During Mr Antony’s second tenure as KPCC president in 1987, the handful of KPCC general secretaries had a monthly allowance of Rs 10, 000 and a car. Their driver’s wages were paid by the party which was stopped by Mr K. Muraleedharan during 2001- 2004, when he became the party chief. Currently, KPCC office-bearers get an allowance of '10, 000 only during Onam. The AICC recently announced the setting up of a new department, All-India Professional Congress, to ensure that the leaders who pay income tax come under it.
