The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) will have a 15-member core committee to handle policy matters.
Senior Congress leaders have come to an understanding to set up the committee in view of a series of setbacks the party had to suffer owing to several Cabinet decisions of recent months.
The core committee would be on the lines of the one established by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to guide the party in handling issues within the United Progressive Alliance.
The setting up of the committee was discussed at a high-level meeting attended by Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who is also a member of the Congress Working Committee and the Delhi Core Committee, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala here recently.
At present, the KPCC has a political affairs committee and a coordination committee to connect the party to the government. But both these committees have hardly been successful in influencing government decisions.
Another decision making body, the KPCC executive, is also not in a position to conduct any meaningful discussions given its omnibus character. The exact structure and responsibilities of the core committee is not yet clear, but it is presumed that it would be a panel that would examine several policies in the Congress party’s perspectives in a coalition where the conflicting interests of constituents appear to be going against it.
Reconstitution
The leaders have also agreed to go in for a comprehensive reconstitution of the party. It has been decided to induct new faces as District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents in 12 of the 14 districts, with the incumbents in Malappuram and Ernakulam getting exemptions for different reasons. New faces would be brought in as general secretaries of the KPCC, with preference being given to those who have not got a break either in electoral politics or organisational work. The party executive committee is likely to be trimmed from its present size of 280 members. Another major decision is to drop all block and mandalam committee presidents who have been in office for over 10 years.
The ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions are likely to get six DCC presidents each. The supporters of the late K. Karunakaran most probably would get a general secretary and a DCC president’s post, either in Kollam or in Thrissur. The attempt of the party leadership, sources pointed out, would be to correct the communal imbalance currently haunting the Congress consequent on conceding the fifth Minister to the Indian Union Muslim League. The organisational reconstitution process is likely to be initiated soon after Mr. Chennithala returns from New Delhi on Thursday.
