Resentment is brewing in the Congress in Kerala over a series of decisions of the party state leadership, the latest being the decision to issue notices to two senior Lok Sabha MPs for openly expressing differences.
Lok Sabha MPs K Muraleedharan and M K Raghavan were issued notices by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee for openly criticising the party leadership for lack of consultations in the party.
Aggravating the issues, Muraleedharan openly defied the decision to issue the notice. "KPCC issued show cause notice to insult me. I am not contesting elections anymore. If the party did not want my service I will end it," he told reporters in Delhi on Monday.
A section of MPs from Kerala reportedly called on AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Tariq Anwar and raised their concerns over lack of discussions in the party. The dissident leaders were also learnt to be getting the support of the 'I' and 'A' factions in the party.
Lok Sabha MP Kodikunnil Suresh, who is a KPCC working president, had recently raised the issue at a party state leadership meeting. He reportedly said that he was kept in the dark about many decisions of the party. A last-minute decision to include more delegates from the state to the AICC's Raipur plenary session had also irked many like Suresh who were unaware of it.
The ongoing reconstitution of the party district units is also a key issue for the differences among the leaders. Party sources said that earlier the district office bearers used to be decided at the district level, whereas the present state leadership is trying to intervene in it with the aim of ensuring that persons of their choice were included. This was causing resentment up to the bottom levels.
Many in the party are upset over the aggravating infight at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are approaching and are expecting AICC's immediate intervention.
"There is total disarray in the party now. The AICC leadership has been apprised of the situation and some interventions are expected shortly," said a senior party leader who preferred anonymity.
"The BJP had even commenced their campaign in the state targeting the Lok Sabha polls. Kerala is among the few states where Congress still has hope. The coming Lok Sabha polls are a do-or-die battle for the party. Hence it is high time for party leaders to stand united keeping aside their vested interests," the leader added.