THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of a concerted campaign by A and I groups, former MP, Mr K. Sudhakaran, on Saturday met party president Sonia Gandhi, urging her to remove KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran for his failure to keep the flock united, launch counterpropaganda against the LDF campaign and initiate adequate preparations in the election year.
Mr Sudhakaran’s audience with Mrs Gandhi came after former minister and A group leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan met her with the same demand the previous day. The meetings in succession were meant to convince the high command that its nominee, Mr Sudheeran, did not command the organisational support to take the party forward when “it is buffeted by the ruling LDF and an aggressive BJP”.
“I have put before the high command basic issues confronting the party. We cannot dictate to the high command, it is for the high command to administer correctives without further delay,” Mr Sudhakaran said in Delhi, hours before the high command put a gag on open criticism.
The party required a vibrant leadership to take on political opponents, led by Pinarayi Vijayan. Only a total revamp of the KPCC will help the party reposition itself against the combined might of the cadre-based LDF and BJP. Referring to the poll rout, Mr Sudhakaran said Congress had lost the support of both the majority and minority communities.
“There is no meaning in blaming groups for this. Groups have always been part of the organisation and rallied behind the party at critical junctures,” he said. I group leader and PCC spokesperson Mr Joseph Vazhakkan attributed the debacle to efforts by “one person to spruce up his image at the cost of the party. Looks like the party’s two-day post-poll stocktaking has had no impact on guiding the party on the right path forward”.
