Kottayam: The battle of succession within the Kerala Congress (M) has reached new heights with party vice-chairman Jose K Mani reacting sharply to the remarks made by acting chairman P J Joseph who questioned the practice of son succeeding his father after the latter's death.
Joseph, countering Jose K Mani's claim over the position held by the father K M Mani, had publicly stated that the party constitution does not have a provision to choose the son of a leader as his heir apparent when the former dies. "Did Shihab Thangal's (former IUML chief Panakkad Mohammedali Shihab Thangal) son become the party leader when Thangal died?" Joseph had asked.
Reacting to Joseph's criticism, Jose K Mani said that he had never staked his claim to the top post. "The party State committee should be convened to select the new chairman through a democratic process," he added.
Jose K Mani's response came after the faction owing allegiance to him sent a letter to the State Election Commission on Friday, requesting it `to direct the working chairman to convene the State committee immediately to elect a new chairman in accordance with party constitution.
The letter, undersigned by MPs Jose K Mani and Thomas Chazhikadan, besides MLAs N Jayaraj and Roshy Augustine, was drafted after a meeting convened at K M Mani's residence in Pala on Thursday. Notably, the letter did not bear the signature of C F Thomas, MLA.
Meanwhile, the deadline set by the Assembly Speaker to the KC(M) to nominate its next parliamentary party leader will end on Sunday. As there is no end in sight to the impasse, P J Joseph is likely to continue as party head for the time being. In the absence of Mani, Joseph had taken his seat in the front row of the Opposition benches in the Assembly on a temporary basis.
