THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress leaders, including MPs K. V. Thomas and K. C. Venugopal, held talks with AICC returning officer Sudarshan Nachiappan on the organisational revamp here on Monday. The list of the 280-member governing council of KPCC will be finalised by the end of this month. Mr Mullapally Ramachandran, chairman of the party election authority, has not taken kindly to the move for consensus on the party posts. A section of Congress leaders rooting for organisational elections has sent a memorandum to Mr Mullapally seeking his intervention.
A Congress MLA told DC after meeting Mr Nachiappan on Monday that Mr Thomas and Mr Venugopal had cautioned the AICC leader against antagonising the groups. Neutral leaders must also be accommodated in the KPCC, DCC and at the lower levels of the party, they said. “The existing leaders and supporters cannot be ignored, but aged persons can be removed,” said the MLA.
Some Congressmen have resented the way the two MPs have tried to project themselves in the party. “Thomas and Venugopal have occupied various party positions due to their proximity to the late K. Karunakaran and later Mr Ramesh Chennithala. But now they are trying to act smart without questioning the group rivalries in the party,” said a Congress leader.
‘I’ group leaders like KPCC vice-president V. D. Satheesan MLA, former MLA Joseph Vazhakkan and former Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran are busy preparing the list of the camp followers to be included in the party set-up. Political Affairs Committee member Benny Behanan and organisational general secretary Thampanoor Ravi of the ‘A’ group are compiling their list. Thrissur DCC president T. N. Prathapan along with KPCC treasurer Johnson Abraham is preparing the names of the supporters of former KPCC president V. M. Sudheeran, who has demanded at least five representations in each district in the organisational revamp.
