EJ Augusthy appointed Kottayam UDF chairman after Saji Manjakadambil's exit

Kottayam: In a bid to address the turmoil in the Congress-led Front in the district, the UDF in Kottayam on Sunday appointed Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction leader EJ Augusthy its new district chairman.

The United Democratic Front (UDF) on Saturday found itself embroiled in internal turmoil after its Kottayam District Chairman Saji Manjakadambil resigned citing mistreatment by Kerala Congress executive chairman Mons Joseph.

Senior Congress MLA and District Election Committee Chairman of the UDF Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Saturday said the UDF has decided to support the nomination put forth by the KC(J) to the post of the Front's district chairman. "As of today, our chairman resigned. Now the KC(J) has decided on a new chairman and we fully support that decision," Radhakrishnan told the media here.

Manjakadambil stepped down from the post alleging that he was neglected and ignored from the party functions and felt insulted. A Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction leader, Manjakadambil also tendered his resignation from the post of the party's district president.

Manjakadambil alleged that KC(J) faction MLA Mons Joseph has been targeting and insulting him for some time. Mons Joseph has denied the allegation but today said the party was ready to discuss the issues with Manjakadambil if he was ready to hold talks. "We don't have any issues in holding talks. He (Manjakadambil) should tell us what were the problems he was facing. He has not yet mentioned the issues faced by him in any of the party forums," Mons Joseph said. He also targeted Kerala Congress (Mani) chief Jose K Mani, who supported Manjakadambil.

"Until yesterday, Jose K Mani used to attack Manjakadambil. Today he changed his stance. What are we supposed to understand from this?" Mons Joseph asked. Jose K Mani on Sunday said the resignation of the UDF chairman in Kottayam district ahead of the general elections indicates the downfall of the Congress-led front. "This indicates the downfall of the UDF especially at a time during the final stages of the elections. He (Manjakadambil) was the seniormost leader of the UDF in the district and his resignation shows that there is a crisis in the Front and that the people have lost confidence in that party," Mani claimed.

Mani's party KC(M), which is with the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), has fielded present MP Thomas Chazhikadan against UDF's Francis George. Attacking George, Mani also said that people are wondering when the UDF candidate would leave that party. "Not only Manjakadambil, we understand that there are many who are unhappy with their leadership and many are ready to resign," he said. Now we don't even know whether UDF candidate George will remain in the Front in the future, he added.

Mons Joseph met the media on Saturday and claimed that the party came to know about the complaints of Manjakadambil only through the press meeting. The MLA alleged that the complaint and the resignation were some sort of political ploy. Polling in Kerala for the Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 26, and votes will be counted nationwide on June 4.