Congress names district chiefs finally, internal bickering ensue

K P Anil Kumar & K Sivadasan Nair suspended for lashing out at leadership; V D Satheesan says there has not been any delay in selecting DCC presidents 
Ramesh Chennithala (Photo | EPS)
Ramesh Chennithala (Photo | EPS)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finally after four days of deliberations in New Delhi, the much-awaited 14 district Congress committee presidents’ names have been officially released. There have been slight changes in three districts — Alappuzha, Kottayam and Idukki. At the last moment, the pressure tactics by two group leaders, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, seemed to have yielded results, with the Congress central leadership eventually considering them “inevitable”.

Following are the list of 14 DCC presidents: Palode Ravi (Thiruvananthapuram), P Rajendra Prasad (Kollam), B Babu Prasad (Alappuzha), Prof Satheesh Kochuparambil (Pathanamthitta), Nattakam Suresh (Kottayam), C P Mathew (Idukki), Mohammed Shiyaz (Ernakulam), Jose Valloor (Thrissur), A Thankappan (Palakkad), V S Joy (Malappuram), K Praveen Kumar (Kozhikode), N D Appachan (Wayanad), Martin George (Kannur) and P K Faizal (Kasaragod). 

MLA Ramesh Chennithala can be a contented lot as his loyalist, Babu Prasad, has been named the Alappuzha DCC president. Earlier, K P Sreekumar was considered for the post. By including Babu Prasad in the final list, the grievance of Chennithala has been addressed to a large extent. Oommen Chandy was keen to bring in Nattakam Suresh in his home district, Kottayam, instead of Philson Mathews. When an Ezhava leader was brought in at Kottayam, in neighbouring Idukki district C P Mathew got the nod over S Ashokan, a Chennithala loyalist. 

Opposition Leader V D Satheesan told TNIE that this is the first time that the state leadership had completed the selection of DCC presidents in less than two months. “There has not been any delay in the appointment of DCC presidents as we took all stakeholders into confidence. Minor changes had to be made in three districts at the last moment,” said Satheesan.

Selections in Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Palakkad districts seem to have been made in an apparent move to appease the Ezhava community. While the Christian community has got representation in Idukki, Thrissur, Kannur and Malappuram, leaders from the Nair community have been appointed in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha and Kozhikode. Ernakulam and Kasaragod districts will now be represented by leaders from the Muslim community.

As expected, a section of leaders lashed out at party brass over the list of DCC presidents. Most notable among them was A V Gopinath, who was initially considered in Palakkad. It should be recalled that the then state Congress working  president K Sudhakaran had reportedly promised him that he would be given the district president post. 

On Saturday night, state Congress general secretary (organisation) K P Anil Kumar lashed out in a live television debate against the leadership for not keeping its promise. This was followed by senior Congress leader K Sivadasan Nair’s outburst, which resulted in their immediate suspension. There is no representation for women and SC/ST communities in the DCC presidents’ list. Bindu Krishna was the party’s first woman district president when she was appointed in Kollam during V M Sudheeran’s tenure as state Congress chief.

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