Cong high command jitters over Kerala Cong tussle

Cong high command jitters over Kerala Cong tussle
SANJIV SINHA

NEW DELHI, APRIL 2: The no holds-barred tussle between the rival factions of the Kerala Congress headed by K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony, to corner the maximum number of seats for their supporters in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state is giving jitters to the party’s central leadership here.

Kerala, which goes to polls on May 10 along with four other states, is perhaps the only state apart from Assam, where the Congress fancies its chances of returning to power at the head of a front of like-minded parties under the banner of United Democratic Front (UDF).

And this is possibly one of the main reasons behind the hotly-contested race for tickets and the infighting among supporters of the two Congress stalwarts and arch-rivals from the state.

The party’s central screening committee, which recommends and forwards names of prospective candidates, has been meeting here daily for the past few days under supervision of AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Ghulam Nabi Azad, to draw up the list.

But intense wrangling between the two camps over virtually every seat has led to tortuous negotiations and endless delays and so far candidates for only 21 of the total 88 Assembly seats, which the party plans to contest, have been agreed upon. Apart from Azad, Karunakaran and Antony, other members of the screening committee are senior leader and Lok Sabha MP P.M. Sayeed and state PCC chief Balakrishna Pillai. The names short-listed by this committee will be sent to the party’s central election committee for clearance.

The rest of the seats in the 140-member Assembly will be shared by Congress’ other allies such as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the Kerala Congress and others.

The reason why the two camps want to corner the maximum number of seats is not too far to seek. Whoever has the support of the majority of MLAs will have an advantage over the other after the polls, especially if the party is able to form the government.

As of now, say party sources, the central leadership has allowed Antony to have a major say in ticket distribution since not only is he the CLP leader but is also the likely chief ministerial candidate if the UDF comes to power.

But arch-rival Karuna-karan is not far behind and is busy extracting his pound of flesh from the high command in return for agreeing to bury the hatchet against Antony in the run-up to the polls.

The veteran leader is reported to have made it clear that he will not settle for less than 32 seats for his supporters which is one-third of the total seats the party plans to contest apart from a ticket for his daughter, Padmaja.

While the central leadership cannot afford to annoy Karunakaran, the Antony faction feels it will be unfair to ‘‘bend backwards’’ and succumb to his pressure tactics.

Antony is reported to have voiced strong objections to the demand for a ticket for Karunakaran’s daughter, insisting that only those who have ‘‘genuinely worked for the party’’ should be considered for nominations. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi brokered peace between the factions a couple of months ago, the broad contours of which was Antony would continue as CLP leader and Karunakaran’s son, Muralidheeran, would be made the PCC chief.