THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran on Saturday said the decision to give Rajya Sabha seat to Kerala Congress Mani smacked of conspiracy. At a press conference here Sudheeran said there seemed to be a conspiracy to deny RS berth to deserving party leaders. The top leaders could not uphold self respect of the party, he said and added that the decision had caused widespread resentment among party workers.
The Congress leader said Mani’s decision to field Jose K Mani would weaken the UPA at a time when the presence of each MP was required to take on the ruling dispensation. Fielding Jose would mean the opposition losing a Lok Sabha member. “I hope Kerala Congress Mani will reconsider its decision to field Jose K Mani. Though the candidature issue was an internal matter of that party, the decision to make a sitting LS MP resign would have a direct bearing on UPA and UDF.
Contrary to the claims made by the leadership the matter was not placed before the KPCC or the political affairs committee. “Had it been an internal matter of the Congress you could have taken a decision and ratified later in the said committees. But in this case the leadership entered into a deal with a party (Kerala Congress) which was not even part of UDF. Moreover you have succumbed to their pressure and sacrificed Congress seat.” He said the self respecting Congress workers could not swallow this humiliation. This was evident from the widespread protests against the decision in the state.
“There was no protest when Kollam seat was given to RSP’s N.K. Premachan-dran. Similarly there was no opposition to allotting Palakkad seat to M.P. Veerendrankumar with the condition that if they lose, the JDU would be considered for RS berth. At that time JDU was part of UDF,” he said. Without naming Oomm-en Chandy, Sudheeran recalled that the then finance minister (Chandy) had resigned from the Cabinet to protest against leadership decision to allot Congress RS seat to Muslim League. He gave leadership to the group politics at that time.
“I am only reflecting the emotions and sentiments of ordinary Congress workers. I don’t want the Congress to become an object of ridicule before people. As a Congressman it is my duty to point out these issues. I don’t belong to any group. I have always felt that group politics was a curse for party,” he added. The leaders who took the decision should do some self introspection and take corrective measures. Sudheeran sought to know whether Mani would apologise for the wild allegations he had raised against Congress leaders while quitting the UDF.
