Close aide of Karunakaran announces departure from Cong; accuses Sudhakaran of squandering party funds

Thiruvananthapuram: Thampanoor Satheesh, former DCC general secretary and close aide of former chief minister K Karunakaran, on Sunday announced he was preparing to leave the Congress. Citing neglect from the party as the reason behind his decision, Satheesh said he would not be joining any other political party. He also levelled serious allegations against KPCC president K Sudhakaran and said there were irregularities in the utilisation of party funds and mismanagement in conducting party events.

"Though I have been overlooked whenever there has been reorganisation in the party, there has never been a response from my side that has put the party on the defensive. I have an issue with my name not being included in the new list of 78 secretaries. The KPCC leadership should clarify whether Thampanoor Satheesh is unworthy of even being considered. The KPCC president is squandering the party funds collected by Congress workers. Nobody knows where all the money goes. There was no discussion about it in any committee. There is a situation where even party members have to buy tickets to enter Congress events," said Satheesh.

Criticising the Congress' Samaragni People's Protest Yatra, Satheesan said the party gained nothing from the event. "Aren't the leaders themselves responsible for the current crisis in the party? By the time Samaragni reached Thiruvananthapuram from Kasaragod, the programme had completely fallen apart. Isn't the KPCC president responsible for this? These leaders should remember that every time a party event worth lakhs of rupees fails to make an impact, they are answerable to the those dedicated Congress workers who worked hard to collect that amount," he said.

He further said he had no intentions of becoming a "sanghi or a comrade". "Being a disciple of K Karunakaran, I want to live with his memories. I have no comment on Padmaja going to the BJP. However, if Karunakaran is bad-mouthed, I will not keep mum. Such is the relation my family had with him," remarked Satheesh.