New Delhi, May 12 -- The Congress leaders from Kerala appear to be divided on whether coalition partners should have a say in the CM selection as the party high command continued to hold talks with senior leaders in the southern state.
Leaders who have been called to Delhi by the central leadership include former KPCC presidents V M Sudheeran, Mullappally Ramachandran, K Muraleedharan, K Sudhakaran and M M Hassan.
The party has also asked senior MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and working presidents P C Vishnunath, Shafi Parambil and A P Anil Kumar to come to Delhi.
After the discussions, on the way out, Sudhakaran told reporters in Delhi that his stance on the issue has not changed and, in his view, MLAs' views should be considered when deciding the CM.
Radhakrishnan said that he communicated his views to the high command and answered their queries to the best of his ability as a party worker.
On whether the UDF coalition party, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) should have a say in the matter, he asked reporters in Delhi why it was being "dragged" into the issue.
"Why are you bringing IUML into this? They need not be involved in this," he said, adding that a decision on the Kerala CM will come as soon as possible.
Muraleedharan said he had told the party high command what he had to say, and a decision can be expected by Wednesday.
A P Anil Kumar, the MLA-elect from the Wandoor Assembly seat, said the high command will examine all aspects before taking a decision.
The three main contenders for the post of chief minister are senior leaders Ramesh Chennithala, V D Satheesan and AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal.
Earlier in the day, Muraleedharan said that the Kerala CM would not be decided merely based on the opinion of MLAs, instead views of the UDF partners and the general public would also be taken into consideration.
He said that since it is the UDF CM, and not just the Congress, who is being decided, the front partners' views will also have to be considered.
If the decision had to be taken just on the views of the MLAs, it would already be done by now, Muraleedharan added, while speaking to a TV channel in Thiruvananthapuram.
On the other hand, senior Congress leader M M Hassan asserted that coalition partners have no role in deciding the Congress Legislature Party leader in Kerala.
Rejecting suggestions that the stand taken by allies could influence the decision-making process, he said the Congress alone would decide its Assembly leader and chief minister.
The high command's decision to seek the opinions of former KPCC presidents has raised hopes in the camp of Satheesan, who also enjoys strong grassroots support among UDF workers, backed by key ally IUML.
Besides Muraleedharan, Sudheeran is also said to be of the view that public sentiment should be taken into consideration before deciding the new chief minister.
Satheesan's camp also argues that if Venugopal is given the post, the UDF will have to face two by-elections -- one to elect him to the Assembly and another to elect a new MP for the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat currently represented by Venugopal.
According to them, that would be highly risky under the prevailing political conditions in the state.
However, the working presidents, who have been called to Delhi, are believed to belong to Venugopal's camp.
The Venugopal camp claims that the AICC general secretary (Organisation) enjoys the support of most elected MLAs and is a strategist capable of ensuring UDF victories in the by-elections. His camp also claims that most of the Congress MPs from Kerala also support Venugopal.
The Chennithala camp says he is the senior most leader who has always stood by the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family like a rock, even during difficult times.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.