A solution to end factionalism in selecting District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents appeared to elude the Congress State unit.
Internal divisions seemed alive and well within the party in Kerala. Both the powerful ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups signalled their resentment at being allegedly kept out of the loop by the KPCC leadership.
The groups felt threatened by KPCC president K. Sudhakaran's averment that they were a historical irrelevance.
The factions perceived a campaign to purge the party of their supporters and supplant them with adherents of an emergent power centre: one allegedly controlled by the "new triumvirate" of AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Mr. Sudhakaran.
‘A’ group leader Oommen Chandy and ‘I’ group headman Ramesh Chennithala have informed the AICC that the list of DCC presidents submitted to the high command by Mr. Sudhakaran in their absence in New Delhi did not have their approval. The leaders reportedly felt passed over and kept in the dark.
Former KPCC presidents Mullappally Ramachandran and V.M. Sudheeran also accused Mr. Sudhakaran of keeping them in the dark about the nomination process. Mr. Sudheeran said in an FB post that KPCC rarely invited him to leadership meetings. Mr. Sudhakaran called on Mr. Sudheeran at the latter's home on Sunday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is in Kerala on Monday to tour the Wayanad constituency. Group leaders are likely to sound him of their grievance.
However, a party insider said the AICC seemed least inclined to expend political energy resolving the seemingly irreconcilable factionalism in the KPCC.
It also felt the current bout of infighting had brought cheer to the LDF. The AICC had also noted that factionalism had caused the embarrassing debacle in the 2021 Assembly polls, among other factors.
The high command is unlikely to bow to factional demands. But it might make some accommodations on the list. It has reportedly tasked Mr. Sudhakaran to restore equilibrium.
