Troubles continued to bog down the Kerala Congress(M) on Saturday with the former Joseph group members coming out openly on their differences with regard to the party’s decision to seek CPI(M) support in the Kottayam district panchayat.
P.J. Joseph and Mons Joseph, who kept away from the ‘parliamentary party’ meeting (which was later dubbed an informal meeting) of the party at chairman K.M. Mani’s residence at Pala on Friday night, came out in the media on Saturday about their reservations, making it clear that they would take up the issue at the official parliamentary party meeting scheduled for Monday.
Meanwhile, bringing a little cheer to the party leadership, KC(M) district chief E.J. Augasthy who put in his papers on Wednesday in protest, withdrew it at Mr. Mani’s demand.
Even as shock and awe persisted both within the party and the Congress leadership at what is termed within its senior leadership as a ‘surgical strike’, the KC(M) leadership gave the impression that it is moving ahead with a clear game plan after its decision to ditch the Congress and embrace the CPI(M), the first step of which was taken at the Kottayam district panchayat.
This new political line was made clear by party’s vice president and heir apparent Jose K. Mani at Friday’s media briefing and later at the meeting in the evening, they point out.
The meeting turned into a fiasco as P.J. Joseph and Mons Joseph refused to attend it. The former even refused to take Mr. Mani’s phone calls, it is learnt. “This was not unexpected,” said a leader close to the Mani group.
However, all the members of the original KC(M) group were present, though there was an element of inhibition on the part of Changanassery MLA C.F. Thomas. That Mr. Mani could keep the core loyalties in tact in the first round is being dubbed by them as partial success of the strategy.
According to them, the decision to ditch the Congress was taken at the highest level with total secrecy, with even the district panchayat members getting a clear picture at the last moment and keeping the district chief in the dark.
“Confidentiality was the order of the day,” said a senior leader when asked about the lack of discussions within the party. The leaders have now been taken into confidence and they understand the issue now, he said.
While they do not discount the possibility of a split in future through the already existing KC(M)-KC(J) fault lines, with a little assistance from the Congress, they do not see any immediate threat as they are not in a hurry to join the Left bandwagon.
“We have enough time for that. And one incident is not a reason enough to orchestrate a split,” said another leader. Officially, the party is till bound by the Charakunnu declaration, he pointed out.
Moreover, just two MLAs (of the former Joseph faction) will not be able to do it, he added.
