Kerala: Cong chief lashes out at Chandy over DCC heads list

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 29 (IANS) The release of the list of District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents seems to have opened a pandora's box in the state Congress. Party chief and Member of Parliament, K. Sudhakaran lashed out at former Chief Minister and senior leader Oommen Chandy stating that the open statement of the latter over the list was inappropriate.

Sudhakaran in a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday said that Chandy stating that he was not consulted over the list was not true and added that he has had two rounds of meetings with both Oomen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala before the list was finalized and released from New Delhi.

Two Congress state office bearers, K.P. Anil Kumar who was party's former state organizing general secretary and K. Sivadasan Nair, former MLA and former KPCC general secretary were suspended from party for airing their views in public during a television channel debate after the list was announced on Saturday evening.

Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader V.D. Satheesan also came down heavily against those who had expressed open resentment against the list and said that all those who mattered in the state Congress were consulted before the list of DCC presidents was finalized.

Satheesan while speaking to media persons said, "The list was not prepared by having discussions between me and Sudhakaran in a corner of the room. All concerned were consulted and their opinions were taken before the list was finalized and forwarded to the high command which announced the list in New Delhi."

The Congress group leaders, Oomen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala had expressed their unhappiness to both AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and it was at the insistence of Rahul that the close loyalists of these two leaders were accommodated in the list. In Alappuzha DCC, former MLA and Ramesh Chennithala's close associate Babu Prasad was given the nod over Sreekumar whose name was finalized by the KPCC president and Opposition leader in consultation with AICC general secretary (Organisation), K.C. Venugopal.

In Kottayam district also, there was an alternation in the list after Chandy insisted on his nominee Nattakam Suresh over the Philson Thomas whose name was finalized as also in Idukki wherein Asokan was removed and C.P. Mathew came in after Chennithala expressed dissatisfaction.

After the drubbing of the Congress in the 2021 assembly elections, party had decided for a major makeover and both the then leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran were removed by the party high command. V.D. Satheeshan and K. Sudhakran were the respective replacements and the senior leaders like Chandy and Chennithala who are heading the powerful "A" and "I" groups in the state Congress wanted to have more share in the decision making process in the party.

Meanwhile K.P. Anil Kumar who was suspended from the party temporarily said that he has not said more than what Satheesan and Sudhakaran had said against the party during earlier days and that his suspension was uncalled for.