The Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) breakaway faction led by Pala legislator Mani C. Kappan split on Monday with a section of its leaders announcing their decision to leave the outfit.
The dissident leaders led by Babu Karthikeyan, former State treasurer of the NCP, attributed their resignations to the shifting political priorities of Mr. Kappan after the Assembly elections.
They also accused him of attempting a return to the NCP fold and thereby to the Left Democratic Front.
“The meeting that Mr. Kappan held with the NCP leaders in Mumbai soon after the Assembly elections and his recent statements against the United Democratic Front point to a gradual shift in his priorities,” alleged Mr. Karthikeyan. The senior leader had left the NCP along with Mr. Kappan in February this year and was later appointed as the head of a 10-member committee to work on the new outfit’s constitution and registration.
The Kappan faction sought to brush aside the allegations. “Since the party is yet to get a registration by the Election Commission of India, how can one resign from a non-existent organisation?,” asked Kadakampally Suku, a party leader.
According to him, the ECI has dismissed the party’s application for registration as Nationalist Congress Kerala (NCK) and in turn asked it to consider three alternative names.
