THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of VD Satheesan’s appointment as the opposition leader against the wishes of prominent groups in the party, the Congress central leadership is set to neglect ‘chieftains’ again and appoint firebrand leader K Sudhakaran as the new state president. The Kannur MP, who turned 73 last month, is not affiliated to either the ‘A’ or ‘I’ groups led by Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, respectively. A formal announcement regarding Sudhakaran’s appointment is expected in a day or two.
Tariq Anwar, the party general secretary in charge of the state, is learnt to have submitted his report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday evening. According to sources, Anwar has recommended Sudhakaran in tune with the feeling that only a vibrant leadership can revive the Congress in Kerala.
Having interacted with party leaders in the state, Anwar found that Satheesan and almost all young MLAs and MPs supported Sudhakaran. It is learnt that only three MPs -- Benny Behanan, Adoor Prakash and V K Sreekantan -- refrained from supporting Sudhakaran and that two of them wanted to lead the party themselves.
K Muraleedharan, MP, told Anwar that he would accept whatever decision the ‘high command’ takes. Another aspirant for the post, Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh, did not get adequate support within the party. Being a Dalit leader who has risen to the level of working president, Kodikunnil told the central leadership that he should be the natural successor to Mullappally Ramachandran, the current state president. However, he found little support from other leaders.
Leaders say selection made earlier
Prominent leaders of the ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups believe that the decision on Sudhakaran’s selection was made earlier and Anwar’s exercise of seeking opinions was a mere formality. Some ‘I’ group leaders are learnt to have told Anwar that Sudhakaran’s appointment may not do the party any good as he is unable to take all leaders along.
They wanted Mullappally to continue in office until the All India Congress Committee meeting is convened during August-September. “When I spoke to Tariq Anwar over the phone on Saturday, I didn’t recommend any name as the national leadership knows what the best option is. My request was that they should not delay it any further,” Mullappally said.