Thiruvananthapuram: A joint meeting of the 'A' and 'I' factions of the Congress in the State has decided to petition the party’s high command against the leader of opposition V D Satheesan and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran.

Their demand is that the high command must intervene in the affairs of the party since the state leadership was wrecking the unity of the Congress by taking decisions without holding consultations with others.

The leaders will arrive in Delhi next week, seeking an appointment with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The meeting at the Mascot Hotel in the capital lasting two-and-a-half hours was attended by former KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala, Joseph Vazhakkan (both of I group), MM Hassan, KC Joseph, (A group), and Benny Behanan and MK Raghavan, both members of the old A group.

The immediate provocation for them was the refusal by Satheesan and Sudhakaran to consult the leaders of the 'A' and 'I' groups prior to the appointment of block presidents of the party recently.

KPCC president K Sudhakaran, who sensed the danger posed by the joint move of the two groups, extended special invitations to Ramesh Chennithala and Hassan to the KPCC headquarters and conducted discussions with them.

High command won't intervene

KC Venugopal, Congress general secretary for organisation, has said that the situation arising from the revamp of the party’s block units in Kerala did not warrant intervention by the national leadership. Those issues will be resolved at the state level through discussions, he said.