About a year after the faction led by Mani C. Kappan, MLA, broke away from the party, the State unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has once again plunged back into internal bickering, prompting an intervention from the party leader Sharad Pawar.
With the opponents of the incumbent State president P.C. Chacko dramatically escalating the war by approaching Mr. Pawar directly, NCP general secretary in charge Praful Patel has now convened a meeting of the warring sides to settle the issue. The meeting, scheduled after the Goa Assembly elections, will be attended by Mr. Chacko, NCP legislators A.K. Saseendran and Thomas K. Thomas, national general secretary T.K. Peethambaran and national secretary N.A. Muhammed Kutty.
The party unit has been witnessing an increasingly spiteful factional spat with a section of leaders launching a stinging attack on Mr. Chacko, accusing him of attempting to bring the party under his control by appointing his close-aides in key party positions. The raging feud echoes a broader push by the old guard to curtail the influence of Mr. Chacko and his allies, who are mostly former Congress workers, over the State unit.
“Ever since Mr. Chacko has taken charge, 11 district unit presidents have been replaced with his ‘‘sidekicks’‘ and of these, eight were removed after the announcement of organisational elections last October. These are in addition to the unilateral reconstitution of the party core committee and nomination of his faithful such as Lathika Subash, a former Congress leader, to various Corporations and boards,” said a senior NCP leader.
Some of the leaders who had lost their positions as part of the revamp have also moved the court citing denial of justice, while a few others chose to quit the party. “As the new guard seeks to rule the roost, the disgruntled workers have begun exploring other options. Consultations with other parties are taking place both at individual and collective levels,’’ he said.
Commenting on the issue, Mr. Chacko said that a few senior leaders were disgruntled about the denial of nomination to the Corporations and boards . “The State committee as well all 14 district committees are overwhelmingly in my favour though a few senior leaders, who were recently excluded from the party committees, have now embarked on a misinformation campaign using the party’s online media arm as well as the social media. The issue will be discussed with the national leadership,’‘ he said.
