The political developments at Kottayam district panchayat, perceived precursor of a probable alliance between the Kerala Congress (M) and the CPI(M), had its initial echoes of dissent in the KC(M) with its district chief E.J. Augusthy putting in his papers.
According to sources close to him, he was not taken into confidence while the decision was taken. Mr. Augusthy’s rebellion goes against the official KC(M) posture that the decision to stand for election was taken at the local level and party chief K.M. Mani and his son Jose K. Mani had no part in it.
Meanwhile, those close to most of the KC(M) members of the legislative Assembly too point to a sense of disaffection among them on the new developments. According to a section of the leaders, there had been no discussion regarding the new decision within the party.
The MLAs who were elected with the Congress support have strong local bonds with the party and some of them may even face defeat.
They had, in fact, expressed their dissent even during the decision of the party to part ways with the UDF. The remaining members of the former P.J. Joseph group within the KC(M) are the worst affected as they believe they had lost a golden opportunity to join the LDF earlier.
Meanwhile, the Francis George group, KC(Democratic), who had a disastrous trek with the LDF during the last Assembly polls, is closely watching the developments. If Mr. Mani and followers march in, they had no other go but to march out from the LDF fold where they are still an associate party. They believe that by supporting the KC(M), the CPI(M) has send a strong message to the CPI.
“In the normal case, entering the LDF as a coalition partner would not be that easy. However, in the present case it would not be difficult to engineer a unity between the KC faction led by Scaria Thomas and KC(M) facilitating the entry through the back door,” said one of them.
On the other hand, the new collaboration would help Mr. Mani who has a few more criminal cases pending before the investigative agencies, they said.
Moreover, the relationship between Jose K. Mani and the Congress leadership in the district has reached its nadir. There is apprehension that the Congress would pull the rug from under his feet in the 2019 elections, said the KC(Democratic) leader.
Cong stance on May 9
Meanwhile, the future of KC(M)-Congress relationship would be decided at the political affairs committee meeting of the Congress scheduled for May 9. If the Congress decide to take a firm stand, it could result in a series of changes in the local bodies and cooperatives further vitiating the internal equilibrium of both the Congress and the KC(M).
