The Congress in Kerala has fallen into a deep crisis as revolt is spreading through the party against the top State leadership for gifting its Rajya Sabha seat — being vacated by PJ Kurien — to the Kerala Congress (M) of former minister KM Mani, which had quit the Congress-led UDF nearly two years ago. A day after the Rajya Sabha seat was gifted to it, the KC(M) on Friday announced its return to the UDF.
Congress workers held protest marches in various places against the decision allegedly of the party’s leadership ‘trinity’ — former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and acting PCC chief MM Hassan — that had ‘arbitrarily and unilaterally’ decided to gift the Rajya Sabha seat to Mani’s party while several leaders openly attacked them.
Coming just days after the shocking defeat party and the UDF suffered in the Chengannur Assembly by-election, the new development has hurled the Congress workers into anxiety and confusion. “The decision on the Rajya Sabha seat is a setback to our sense of political pride and confidence,” said a leader from Thrissur who has till the other day been a Chandy-loyalist.
The KC(M), which had been a UDF partner for over three decades, had left the coalition on August 7, 2016 and its six legislators had been sitting as a separate bloc in the Assembly since then. It had left the UDF because the Congress had allegedly backstabbed Mani in the issue of the bar bribery scandal which forced him to resign as Finance minister in November, 2015.
Former State Congress president VM Sudheeran, known as Mr Clean of the State party, on Friday walked out of a UDF meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram for announcing the decision to allot the RS seat to Mani’s party, while K Muraleedharan MlA, another former PCC chief, boycotted the meeting after which Chandy and Chennithala struggled to justify the decision.
The opponents of the ‘trinity’, like PJ Kurien himself, are alleging that they had misled party president Rahul Gandhi, who endorsed their decision on Thursday, into believing that the re-induction of the KC(M), a party backed by the Catholic Church, to the UDF was necessary to win the minorities’ support and that gifting the RS seat to it was necessary for this.
They are also alleging that the top leaders had come to the decision as a result of a plan formulated secretly by the so-called ‘Ku’ trinity of Kunjoonju, Kunjumani and Kunhappa – Chandy, Mani and PK Kunhalikutty, leader of the Muslim league. “It was a conspiracy and the tragedy is that none of us could foresee it,” said a senior Congress leader.
“This decision will in no way help the Congress or the UDF. It will lead only to destruction of the Congress,” Sudheeran said after walking out of the UDF meet just after Mani entered the venue. “The way that decision was taken was arbitrary, autocratic and undemocratic. Also, it was not transparent. I am registering my protest against it openly,” he told newsmen.
“let Mani come. That is good. But the way they chose to bring his party into the UDF is destructive. I don’t buy their theory that this is for strengthening the UDF. How can you strengthen the UDF by destroying the CongressIJ The ultimate beneficiary of this will be the BJP,” Sudheeran added.
“There is no party interest behind this decision. Also, there is no UDF interest. It is solely in interest of the leaders,” said young Congress leader Mathew Kuzhalnadan even as intense protests broke out at several places in the State against Chennithala, Chandy and their decision. Workers also burned their effigies.
At the same time, Chandy and Chennithala justified the decision to gift the Rajya Sabha seat to the KC(M) by saying that it was necessary to strengthen the UDF and that the seat was being given to that party only as a temporary arrangement. Chennithala also said that it was not always possible to hold extensive discussions in party forums before taking such decisions.
“We had talked to them (Mani) several times. But their stand was firm. That is how we reached this decision,” Chennithala said after the UDF meeting. Reports from Delhi say that the party high command had received a flood of complaints against the gifting of the RS seat to the KC(M) but it has made it clear that the decision cannot be revoked.