Factionalism on the boil in Congress in Pathanamthitta- NSP NEWS

Factional squabbling within the Congress party in Pathanamthitta, which reared its head a few months ago with a proposed revamp of the District Congress Committee (DCC), appears to be heading nowhere near an end.

The raging hostilities within the party has once again come to the fore when Saji Chacko, a Congress leader currently under suspension, stepped down as president of the Primary Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank at Mallappally. The resignation, announced here the other day, follows no-confidence motion moved by seven Congress members in the bank’s Director Board against him. The no-confidence motion was initiated following a directive of the DCC, which has placed Mr. Chacko under suspension since August 2022 on charges of colluding with the Left Democratic Front to include its member in the Director Board.

Announcing the decision to step down, Mr. Chacko accused the DCC of acting at the instance of a veteran Congress leader. “The no-confidence motion, which comes without any discussions in any of the party forums and stands in direct violation of a recommendation by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to revoke my suspension, was solely aimed at appeasing a vengeful senior leader of the party,’’ he said, in an apparent reference to P.J. Kurien.

Counter-offensive

The development, meanwhile, has further stimulated the factional activities within the party as a section of party workers, who have faced various disciplinary actions since last year, is planning to launch a counter-offensive against the DCC. A preliminary meeting of this group, led by former DCC president Babu George, was held here recently.

“Several party leaders, primarily from the ‘A’ group, are disgruntled with the current leadership and have been staying away from party for sometime now. We have started reaching out to all of them and plan to convene a convention later next month,’’ said a senior Congress leader.

The ructions within the Congress came out in the open during a tumultuous meeting of the DCC reorganisation subcommittee earlier this year. This was followed by a war of words between the leaders, at a scale almost unprecedented, and even fights at a couple of party meetings, prompting the leadership to ban public statements by party leaders.

The party feeder organisations, including the Youth Congress (YC), too are grappling with acute factionalism. The proposed reorganisation of the YC has triggered a stiff competition between the ‘A’ and ‘I’ group leaders to various posts within its State and district units.