Even as the Kerala Congress (M) appears to be heading for a split, factionalism seems to have reared its head in one more constituent party of the United Democratic Front, presenting more headaches to the coalition.
Raising the spectre of an infighting in his party, Kerala Congress (Jacob) leader Anoop Jacob, MLA, here on Saturday convened a meeting of the party’s high power committee and turned down a proposal to merge his outfit with the KC(M) faction led by P.J. Joseph.
The latest move comes even as KC(Jacob) chairman Johny Nellore is slated to convene a meeting of the party’s high-power committee on February 21 in Kottayam to discuss the merger proposal.
“The decisions taken at the previous State committee meeting, which include strengthening the party base and dropping the merger plan, were discussed threadbare during the meeting. We have resolved to equip the party to face the upcoming local body elections. Reports regarding a split in the party are baseless. We will not resort to any move that will destabilise the UDF,” Mr. Jacob told reporters after the meeting.
According to him, 42 out of the 70 high-power committee members that include 10 district presidents, 11 out of 16 State functionaries and one out of three vice chairpersons of the party attended the meeting on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the meeting also decided to hold a State committee meeting of the party on February 21, the same day Mr. Nellore is slated to convene the high-power committee meet.
Merger plans
Terming the meeting on Saturday as a mere factional event, Mr. Nellore held that the party chairman was the lone authority to convene the high-power committee meet.
The party chairman, office-charge general secretary, party vice chairpersons and majority of the leaders were not intimated about any such meeting, he said.
According to him, the party would go ahead with the merger plans after receiving approval from the high- power committee meeting.
Poll panel hearing
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India is slated to conduct a hearing on the dispute between the KC(M) factions led by P.J. Joseph and Jose K. Mani over the party symbol on Monday.
