A change of guard in the Kottayam district panchayat is likely to get delayed further as the Kerala Congress (M) [KC(M)] faction led by P.J. Joseph appears to have flip-flopped on its decision to immediately move a no-confidence motion against the rival group.
According to sources, the Joseph faction has put the action on hold for the time being as senior Congress leaders are reportedly dissatisfied over its abrupt dismissal of a compromise formula worked out by the United Democratic Front.
With just two members in the 22-member council of the local body, the faction requires the support of the Congress, which has eight members, to successfully move a motion on the floor.
“A meeting of the KC(M) parliamentary party to be held later this week will discuss the consequences of the action threadbare. Accordingly, the motion may be initiated sometime next week,” confirmed a senior leader of the Joseph group.
Readiness for talks
The group has also slightly softened its stance from the “no more deliberations on the issue” to expressing willingness to continue the consultations with the UDF leadership. At the same time, it also maintains that there is no point in discussing the matter further with the KC(M) faction led by Jose K. Mani.
Last week, Mr. Joseph announced that the faction would move the no-confidence motion immediately irrespective of the support on the floor. Expressing unhappiness over the inability of the UDF in implementing the power-sharing deal, he had also threatened to stay away from the coalition’s meetings till a further decision.
Swapping of divisions
Following the marathon deliberations initiated by the senior UDF leaders, including Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and P.K. Kunhalikutty, last week, the Mani faction gave up its reluctance to part with the post. Instead, the group demanded the swapping of two divisions of the district panchayat (Kaduthuruthy and Kangazha with Kanjirappally and Kuravilangad) between the factions in the coming local body elections.
Though the Joseph group leaders who attended the deliberations sought time for deciding on this, Mr. Joseph stuck to his demand for the resignation of Sebastian Kulathungal from the president’s post. This, however, appears to have escalated the crisis further and is learned to have caused disenchantment among a section of the UDF leadership.
