THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Groupism in the Congress may be on the wane going by the response of the group leaders to the call made by the AICC to end it to revive the party. The other day, when Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala called a meeting of the 'I' group at his official residence, only UDF convener P. P. Thankachan turned up, it is learnt. But Mr Chennithala told DC that he had not called any group meeting after July 19 when the Assembly session ended.
Senior leaders attached to the ‘I’ camp, especially K. Muraleedharan and V. D. Satheeshan, had wanted Oommen Chandy, Chennithala and V.M. Sudheeran to own up collective responsibility for the poll debacle. Chennithala’s election as the Opposition Leader did not go down well with the majority of the ‘I’ group leaders.
Prominent ‘I’ group leaders like K. Sudhakaran, M. I. Shahnavas, K.C. Venugopal, Joseph Vazhakkan, K. Muraleedharan, P. P. Thankachan, V. D. Satheeshan and Sooranad Rajsekharan normally attend the ‘I’ group meeting chaired by Chennithala. V. S. Sivakumar attends the meeting when Chennithala calls the wider meeting of the faction. A senior leader quipped that the party would rise from the ashes as desired by the AICC leadership.
