Kochi: K Sudhakaran is most likely to continue as the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president with the party's state unit adopting a resolution path instead of going for internal elections.
The KPCC on Thursday passed a brief resolution asking Congress president Sonia Gandhi to decide on the new state chief ahead of the internal elections scheduled to find her successor.
Former leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala presented the resolution which was backed by five senior leaders -- Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, K Muraleedharan, K C Joseph, Kodikkunnil Suresh and M M Hassan. It was passed unanimously.
The party also requested Sonia Gandhi to announce the office-bearers of the KPCC as well as AICC from the state.
The PCC meeting was wrapped up in a few minutes with the resolution being passed unanimously.
The meeting took place even as former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is touring the state as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
What's next?
With the resolution, the party's state unit has continued its long-term tradition of preferring a path of consensus to internal polls.
"At the moment there is a general feeling that Sudhakaran should be allowed to continue as the PCC president. Otherwise, there would have been discussions or debates about other names. The fact that Sudhakaran has only got just a little over one year on the post was also considered," a senior Congress leader told Onmanorama.
Following the resolution, Sonia Gandhi will ask the party's state unit to propose the names of the members of the KPCC. The names have already been finalised and the announcement will be a mere formality, according to sources.
The PCC members will have the voting right in the Congress president election which is slated for October 17.
Sudhakaran was appointed KPCC president in June last year in the aftermath of the Congress-led United Democratic Front’s drubbing in the assembly elections in April. Sudhakaran replaced Mullappally Ramachandran even as the party national leadership appointed V D Satheesan as leader of the opposition much to the chagrin of his predecessor Ramesh Chennithala.
