Talks for revamp of the organisational machinery of the ruling Congress in Kerala, on in New Delhi since Sunday evening, got deadlocked following failure of the party leaders to arrive at a formula acceptable to all sides in the State party.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala could not break the deadlock, despite the two sides arriving at an understanding in principle on the number of DCCsthe two sides would have, following objections from Union Minister Vayalar Ravi, who heads a fourth group in the State party, and an angry outburst from senior party leader V.M. Sudheeran.
While Mr. Ravi, who was brought into the loop late Monday by Mr. Chandy and Mr. Chennithala, made it clear that he would not agree to any formula that denied his faction at least one district, Mr. Sudheeran told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that the Chief Minister and the KPCC chief were deliberately keeping him in the dark about the revamp formula they had in mind.
He dropped dark hints about the consequences of such ‘arbitrariness’ forcing Mr. Chennithala to tell a news conference late Monday evening that a final decision on the reconstitution would be taken only after discussions with former KPCC presidents and persons such as Mr. Sudheeran.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Chandy and Mr. Chennithala had reached a general understanding on sharing the DCCs on a 50:50 ratio, leaving nothing for the other claimants. Going by reports from Delhi, the DCCs, except Idukki and Palakkad, might be in for change of guard. There may not be any change in Idukki and Palakkad because the DCC presidents in these districts took over charge only recently. In the KPCC, the posts of general secretaries might be increased from the present 14, either through promotion of present joint secretaries or by bringing in fresh faces. The Chennithala faction is likely to retain the treasurer post and the two vice-president posts are likely to be shared.
