Two senior Congress leaders in Kerala resigned from key posts on Sunday. While Benny Behanan stepped down from the post of UDF convener K Muraleedharan quit as the head of the KPCC's campaign committee.
Behanan is the MP from Chalakudy while Muraleedharan represents Vadakara constituency in the Lok Sabha.
Behanan announced the decision to quit as the head of the Congress-led United Democratic Front at a press meet in Kochi amid reports of a rift with Congress veteran Oommen Chandy.
The Congress leader, who had been a KPCC general secretary for 17 years, said the decision had come in wake of rumours that he had a disagreement with Chandy. He said he was deeply saddened by it, but clarified that he was stepping own on his own accord and not on the insistence of Chandy.
Congress leaders told Onmanorama that Behanan stepped down as part of a consensus within the party leadership. The KPCC wanted him to step down as UDF convener after he was elected an MP. Former KPCC interim president M M Hassan is most likely to be appointed the new UDF convener.
Muraleedharan announced the decision to resign in a Facebook post. He shared the resignation letter he has sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Muraleedharan, a former KPCC chief, said in his letter that he wanted to resign as the chairman of KPCC media campaign committee following the principle of “One man One post”.
There were reports that Muraleedharan was unhappy with the list of new KPCC secretaries approved recently. He had reportedly expressed interest to come back to state politics and contest the assembly polls due next year. Muraleedharan contested the Lok Sabha polls while he was an MLA representing the Vattiyoorkavu constituency in Thiruvananthapuram.
