Kannur: A fierce tug of war between the two prominent factions in Congress over its candidate for the Irikkur seat in Kannur district is on and may wreck the prospects of the party in its stronghold in next month's state polls.
An attempt to bring about a rapprochement failed despite talks held on Tuesday by KC Joseph, the incumbent party MLA, and another senior leader M M Hassan. Both had rushed to Kannur as the opposing camp showed no signs of relenting.
The "A" group is vehemently opposing the candidature of Sajeev Joseph of the "I" group and is pitching for its representative Sony Sebastian, Manorama News reported on Tuesday.
K C Joseph, a senior leader and former minister associated with the "A" group led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, has been representing the constituency for long. Joseph is not contesting the polls this time.
Compromise offer rejected
A compromise offer to make Soni the Kannur DCC chief was dismissed by both the 'A' group and supporters of party's Kannur strongman K
Sudhakaran. The latter doesn't want his man Satheesan Pacheni to vacate the DCC chief's post in a bid to settle the dispute.
Meanwhile, AICC secretary P V Mohanan stated the candidate already named by the party won't be changed now.
"The party organisation will be restructured after the assembly polls," he told Manorama News.
The two major groups, A and I, have been active in the state unit of Congress since the period of veteran leader and late K Karunakaran and senior leader A K Antony.
Apart from Sony Sebastian, 'A' group leaders P T Mathew, M P Murali, Dr K V Philomina, N P Sreedharan, Muhammed Blathoor, C Raghunath, P Madhavan and Joshy Kandathil attended the meeting held in Kannur on Tuesday.
M M Hassan and K C Joseph will now meet Sudhakaran, Satheesan Pacheni and Peravoor MLA Sunny Joseph, before continuing the parley with the 'A' group leaders.
Venugopal blamed
KPCC working president K Sudhakaran, MP, who too promotes a minor faction in the northern districts of the state, meanwhile, blamed AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal as well as faction leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala for the crisis.
Joshy Kandathil, an 'A' faction leader in the region, too blamed Venugopal.
Sudhakaran expressed displeasure over the way Congress handled the Irikkur issue and hoped the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee will "rectify" its mistake.
"Venugopal managed to include his own supporters in the candidate list for the state. He has his own interests," Sudhakaran said.
Congress firefight elsewhere too
The Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala is in the midst of a firefighting exercise elsewhere too to mollify protesting party leaders who were denied tickets for the April 6 polls to the state Assembly.
Party sources said senior leaders have been deputed to various districts, including Wayanad, Kannur and Palakkad, where local party leaders and activists have come out openly against the leadership over denial of tickets to "deserving persons". The Irikkur dispute too had flared up then itself.
In Wayanad
Party sources said Chennithala intervened to manage the protesting Congress activists and leaders in Wayanad over the move to give the Kalpetta Assembly seat to "outsider" T Siddique.
The party leaders in Wayanad wanted a leader from the district to be chosen to fight from the Kalpetta seat, they said.
Sources said senior party leader Oommen Chandy will leave for Palakkad on Tuesday to meet disgruntled leader A V Gopinath.
Gopinath, a former president of Palakkad DCC and one who enjoys grassroot-level support, has alleged that he had been sidelined in the party for the past many years and said he would not take the matter lightly.
IUML's troubles
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), an ally of the Congress, is also facing rebellion from within over fielding former PWD Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju's son in Kalamassery Assembly constituency in Ernakulam district.
The League had denied the party ticket to Kunju this time over his involvement in the Palarivattom flyover scam for which he was arrested by the Vigilance a few months ago. The League, however, gave the party ticket to Kunju's son V E Abdul Gafoor.
However, several League leaders in Kalamassery opposed Gafoor's candidature and approached the IUML top brass, including the state leader at his house in Panakkad in Malappuram district. The state leaders however refused to entertain the plaints of Kunju's detractors.
Hassan plays down protests
UDF convenor M M Hassan said "everything will be managed in two days" and the Congress-led front would work in full swing to ensure victory of its candidates in all constituencies.
"Such protests are not new to the Congress as it is a democratic party. Efforts are on to pacify those who were denied tickets", Hassan told PTI.
He, however, said the number of aspirants for the tickets were high this time and blamed the media "for injecting parliamentary delusion among young party leaders."
The Congress on Sunday released its first list of 86 candidates for the election, out of the 92 it is contesting, fielding Oommen Chandy from Puthuppally and Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala from Haripad.
Vatakara MP K Muraleedharan, son of veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran, has been fielded from Thiruvananthapuram's Nemom constituency, the lone seat won by the BJP in the 2016 assembly polls.
