THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior Congress leader A. K. Antony has said that merit should be the criterion for choosing DCC presidents. Antony held one-to-one talks with several leaders, including Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala, K. Muraleedharan, former AICC secretary Shanimol Usman, former Palakkad MP A. Vijayaraghavan and KPCC treasurer Johnson Abraham. Sources said that Antony heard the views of some 50 leaders on the probable DCC presidents who are likely to be appointed by November 10.
The Political Affairs Committee, scheduled to meet on November 2, is likely to zero in on the DCC presidents’ list. The meeting will also be attended by AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik and secretary Dipak Babaria. “Antony wanted to gauge the feelings of the leaders especially when there has been widespread allegation of factional politics,” said a Congress leader. Later, Antony told reporters that the party should stress on bringing back those who have been alienated from the Congress.
“Talks are yet to conclude on deciding the DCC presidents. The list would be finalised by the second week of November. Leaders should work unitedly keeping aside their differences,” said Antony. He felt that talks should be held to reach a consensus on the uniform civil code. He also warned the LDF government that if they don’t take immediate steps to sort out the dispute among the police officials, governance will come to a standstill.
