KPCC chief flays group leaders for whipping up ‘non-issues’

Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC president K Sudhakaran has come out against former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and UDF convener M M Hassan for dragging the disputes over the reorganization of Congress block committees into the public domain. Sudhakaran said that the ‘A’ and ‘I’ group leaders, who were the main beneficiaries in the past, were trying to create issues out of thin air at a time when Congress was in need of unity and hard work. He said that he could only pity the leaders who came up with such issues after playing group politics to the hilt in the past and enjoying all the benefits.“Party workers hit the social media with the complaint that leaders ruin the party. Which leader won’t feel like having a relook into such group politics?” he asked, adding that dragging internal matters into the public domain amounted to lack of composure by the group leaders. KPCC was ready to correct any mistakes, he said. “Those who have faith in the high command are free to approach them. We never criticized that freedom. But I would like to remind them that all such moves won’t help the party in any way,” he said. Only a few leaders were speaking against KPCC and it was wrong to generalize their opinion as the opinion of all leaders, he added.Sudhakaran termed Hassan’s claims that the Congress state unit was losing unity as being immature. “Never in the history of Congress was a reorganization initiated so democratically. Most names were unanimous. Wherever there was more than one name, the decision was taken based on merit,” he said.“Nominees of all sections were included. Are they blaming us for approving their lists?” Sudhakaran asked, adding that there was no merit in the complaint that the group leaders were not consulted before finalizing the list.It was those who went to the press with complaints against KPCC leadership that toppled the decisions taken at the Sulthan Bathery meeting convened by AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, he alleged. Sudhakaran’s reaction comes at a time when the A and I group leaders are out in the open against KPCC over the selection of new Congress block leaders. AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar is expected to reach the state for conciliatory talks on Monday.