Thiruvananthapuram; KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran remained silent for the second consecutive day on the vigilance raid at former excise minister K. Babu's residence at Thripunithura. His reaction that he would comment later has not gone down well with Mr Babu and his loyalists. They are peeved with him as he has made his voice heard loud and clear without uttering a word. He was in Kozhikode on Sunday where he visited 20-year-old slain Muslim League worker Aslam’s house at Nadapuram.
He also visited the Chakkittapara mining centre before proceeding to Kottayam. When reporters tried to get his reaction to the vigilance raid at Babu’s home, he neither supported nor talked against him. He said, “I will comment later”. It should be recalled that former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC vice-president M. M. Hassan came out against the LDF government’s move. Mr Chandy had stated that it was nothing but a personal vendetta to tarnish his image.
He had also warned that if such steps continue, voters will react. But what has upset the ‘A’ camp, where Babu belongs, is that Mr Chennithala who leads the ‘I’ camp had lashed out at the raid and asserted that there was no need to disbelieve Mr Babu, and there is nothing wrong in moving against the LDF government legally. But two top leaders who are loyalists of Mr Sudheeran told DC that Mr Babu would pay for his sins. While Mr Sudheeran was firm against giving a seat to Mr Babu to contest the Assembly elections, Mr Chandy ensured his candidature in Tripunithura where he had won five times in a row.
Mr Sudheeran had to succumb to the demands of the AICC leadership and Mr Chandy. But Mr Babu tasted defeat for the first time when he lost to DYFI secretary M. Swaraj by 4,467 votes. “Veteran CPM leader V. S. Achuthanandan had kept mum on various occasions. Similarly, Mr Sudheeran has also decided not to react ‘now’. He will respond later at an appropriate stage,” said a leader close to him. The high-power Political Affairs Committee formed by the AICC will hold its first meeting on Sep 24 at KPCC office.
