The first meeting of the newly constituted general body of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Monday passed a resolution authorising party president Sonia Gandhi to nominate the KPCC president and members of the All India Congress Committee representing the State.
The meeting lasted just 15 minutes to pass the one-line resolution, moved by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and seconded by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president M. M. Hassan. Contrary to expectations, the meeting did not pass a resolution supporting Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the AICC president’s post because of the changes made to the election schedules to achieve this purpose.
Congress Returning Officer for Kerala Sudharshan Naichiappan in his prefatory speech, officially announced the completion of the organisational election process in Kerala, which had the highest number of primary members in the country at 33.84 lakh. He advised party leaders not to make any claims about the composition of the KPCC general body since the AICC had not officially published the list. The final KPCC list will be announced only after the election process at the national level is completed. He expressed satisfaction at completing the election process despite several road blocks, including court intervention.
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Later addressing a press conference, Mr. Nachiappan said some of the jumbo District Congress Committees will be trimmed. The first stage of the organisational election had been completed with the reconstitution of the KPCC general body. The Congress election authority will decide the schedule for the next stage leading to the election of the AICC president.
The AICC will formally announce the KPCC list at the national level. The number of AICC members is fixed on the basis of population and the strength of the KPCC general body. Currently the KPCC general body has 304 members, comprising 282 members drawn from the block committees, seven former KPCC presidents and 15 legislators representing the Congress Legislature Party. He claimed that adequate representation had been given to youth and women. Certain senior leaders had been given membership as a honour for their service to the party.