Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other Central leaders next week in order to find a solution to the groupism-triggered standoff in the State unit of the party and to put an end to the disputes over the proposal for inducting State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala into the Cabinet.
At the same time, concerns are growing within the State Congress that the standoff between the opposing party groups could affect the lok Sabha poll prospects of the party and the UDF it leads, particularly at a time when certain powerful majority community organisations are at war with the Congress and the Government for their alleged pro-minorities policies.
Chandy’s trip to Delhi to seek the assistance of the Congress high command is in the context of the State unit’s failure to settle the disputes emanating from the demand of the ‘I’ group led by Chennithala for the post of Deputy Chief Minister for him which the ‘A’ group headed by the Chief Minister does not want to agree to it. Chandy may meet Sonia on Tuesday.
The State unit wants high command’s advice for settling the issues connected with Chennithala’s entry into the Cabinet, his demand for the post of Deputy Chief Minister and the proposed reshuffle of the Congress-held posts in the Cabinet. The reshuffle move was initiated to pacify majority community outfits which have severed relations with the Congress.
Observers say that Chandy has been forced to seek the Central leadership’s help as the State unit has totally failed in finding a solution to the problem. However, they also say that even the high command may not be able to make a practical proposal. Defence Minister AK Antony had last week opted out of these efforts as he was convinced that there was no easy solution to the issue.
Chandy’s current bid is proof of his realisation that what could have been a simple matter of reshuffling his Cabinet has now led to an administrative freeze in the State. Understanding this, Chennithala’s ‘I’ group has taken a position that it is Chandy’s responsibility to find a solution. “After all we had not demanded this reshuffle,” said an aide of Chennithala.
The Chief Minister was left with no choice but to search for a solution in Delhi after the ‘I’ group rejected his faction’s ‘most generous” proposal that Chennithala could join the Cabinet not as Deputy CM but as the Revenue Minister with the charge of two or three other portfolios. “We don’t feel any urgent need for this,” said the Chennithala aide.
What has complicated the already vexed issue concerning the demand of Chennithala and his ‘I’ group for the post of Deputy CM for him is the sudden entry of the Muslim league, second biggest party in the ruling front, into the dispute by staking claim for the same post saying that the second position in the Government is its right.
Congress strategists in the State are of the feeling that the Muslim league’s demand for the post of Deputy CM is part of its strategy for putting pressure on the Congress to allocate it one more lok Sabha seat to contest. Presently, the Muslim league is contesting two seats — Malappuram and Ponnani — as a partner of UDF and it is no secret that it wants to get the Wayanad seat also.
Meanwhile, former State Congress president K Muraleedharan, son of former chief minister K Karunakaran, warned the Congress that it might face a severe setback in the lok Sabha polls if the ‘A’ group continued to humiliate Chennithala in the issue of the Cabinet reshuffle. “This dispute should be resolved by giving him a decent Cabinet position,” Muraleedharan said.