The 63-member Kerala Congress Legislature Party on Thursday formally allowed the party leadership to choose the chief ministerial candidate, a move that comes against the backdrop of intense lobbying for the top job.
“The party has issued a one-line resolution asking the high command to take the decision (on the chief minister’s post),” Sanesh Kumar Joseph, MP from Chalakudy, told reporters after the legislative council meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.
The formal resolution was moved by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph and was passed with the support of leaders like VD Sathisan, Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, and 69-year-old Ramesh Chennithala, a former Kerala minister and former Leader of the Opposition.
The two veterans, along with AICC general secretary (organisation) Venugopal (63), Lok Sabha member from Alappuzha, are in the running for the top post.
Senior Congress leaders Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, observers deputed by the ACC leadership, held one-on-one consultations with 63 legislators at Indira Bhawan, the party headquarters, over the next few hours to ascertain their preferences.
The Venugopal-led camp has claimed the support of a majority of MLAs. It is learned that the Sathisean faction has asserted that it has the support of all major allies, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala Congress (JOSEPH) and the Communist Marxist Party.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front swept the Kerala Assembly elections on April 9, returning to power after a decade of Left rule. The United Democratic Front won 102 seats in the 140-member council.
The Chennithala-led faction says that, by virtue of his seniority in the state unit and experience in administrative matters, he should get the top job. While Sathisan and Chennithala were elected from their strongholds of Paravur and Haripad, respectively, Venugopal did not contest the election.
Mathew Kozalnadan, who won the Muvattupuzha seat, said all legislators will abide by the decision of the high command.
“The media should stop portraying the Congress as being in a state of confusion. We are a national party and have contributed many prime ministers and chief ministers. We have the power to choose the next prime minister,” he said after attending the Legislative Council meeting.
