The clamour for Kochi Mayor Soumini Jain’s resignation will be louder as A.B. Sabu, one of her staunch loyalists and chairman of the welfare standing committee of the civic body, puts in his papers on Friday.
District Congress Committee (DCC) president T.J. Vinod, MLA, had earlier asked the chairpersons of the party to step down to pave way for a reshuffle.
Shiny Mathew and K.V.P. Krishnakumar, chairpersons of the Congress, had stepped down from their responsibilities following the DCC directive. Gracy Joseph, chairperson of the development standing committee, has not put in her papers. “I have not taken any decision to resign,” said Ms. Joseph when asked about her plans.
On the face of it, the DCC leadership’s demand for the resignation of standing committee chairpersons of the Congress is viewed as an exercise to give senior party councillors a term in office. However, it will also serve the purpose of forcing Ms. Jain to step down and give Ms. Mathew the mantle of civic administration.
‘A’ and ‘I’ factions
Though the ‘A’ and the ‘I’ faction leaders of the Congress had unanimously demanded the Mayor’s resignation in the political affairs committee of the party, some of the senior State-level leaders supported Ms. Jain’s continuance in office. Mr. Sabu had identified himself as one of Ms. Jain’s strategists to fight the campaign to oust her. The senior Congress councillor had been close to the ‘A’ faction.
However, Mr. Sabu has decided to leave the ‘A’ camp to associate himself with the ‘I’ faction in the Congress led by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala. The decision to resign from the post of the chairman and to align with the ‘I’ faction was reportedly taken after discussions with Mr. Chennithala and V.D. Satheesan, MLA, on Thursday.
Sources close to Ms. Jain maintained that she would take a call on resigning from the post when demanded by the party.
