The Kerala Congress (M) which appeared to mellow down on its stance against the Congress on Thursday again went full throttle against the party with Jose K. Mani, MP, the de facto decision maker in the party, who was away in the U.K. during the worst hours of the crisis, came back and took charge of the situation launching a scathing attack on the Congress and owning up the decision which according to him was taken at the local level.
Speaking to mediapersons who met him at his residence at Pala, Mr. Mani said the decision taken by the district panchayat members was in reply to the insult suffered by the party at the hands of the Congress and it could move to lift its self respect.
Mr. Mani pointed out that taking decisions by local leaders on local issues was nothing new. “Not only the KC(M) but also the Congress and the CPI(M) have taken such decisions in the past. In fact, the Congress has joined hands with the CPI(M) in West Bengal,” he pointed out.
The original decision of the party was to support the Congress in the district panchayat presidential elections. However, before the elections, the Congress had called a meeting of the DCC and launched a tirade against the KC(M) and its chairman K.M. Mani, he said.
“When we decided to support the IUML in Malappuram byelection, it was the decision of the KC(M). However, in this case, they said it was the decision of K.M. Mani and Jose K. Mani,” he quipped. Such interpretations might serve the interest of certain leaders.
“That the KC(M) was wounded by the actions of certain leaders was the assessment of the leaders at the Charalkunnu camp which decided on the withdrawal of the party from the UDF,” Mr. Mani said.
The action of Kottayam DCC amounted to rubbing salt into the wound. If insulted, the party would not lie down, he said.
