The Congress party has convened a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) on January 24 to discuss the upcoming byelection in the Chengannur Assembly seat that fell vacant following the death of CPI(M) member K.K. Ramachandran Nair.
The Congress has traditionally contested the seat under the United Democratic Front dispensation. But its candidate P.C. Vishnunath lost to Ramachandran Nair by over 7,000 votes, with the BJP’s P.S. Sreedharan Pillai coming a close third. The difference in the margin between Mr. Vishnunath and Mr. Pillai was a little over 2,000 votes.
Within the Congress, the seat has been in the grasp of the Oommen Chandy faction. It has now become imperative for the Congress to win the byelection to prove that its defeat in Chengannur was merely an aberration. The imperatives of winning the seat has triggered speculations that the Congress has opened dialogue with the Kerala Congress (M). It is possible that the Congress PAC may discuss the pros and cons of bringing back the KC(M) back into the UDF fold.
According to sources, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P.K. Kunhalikutty held informal talks with Mr. Mani regarding the prospects of the latter’s return. However, Mr. Mani has reportedly not opened up, sticking to his original stand that he would take an appropriate decision at the appropriate time. Congress leaders are yet to get a positive signal from the Kerala Congress (M) in order to initiate any kind of dialogues, whatsoever.
Approach paper being readied
According to Kerala Congress (M) sources, the party leadership is in the process of preparing an approach paper on the State’s development, with special emphasis on the agriculture sector. The party will soon put up this approach for public debate. It will not hesitate to work for a tie-up with parties expressing solidarity with this. “It is irrelevant whether we go with the Left or the Right. This is not a left-right march,” a KC(M) leader said.
