Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 3 — The AICC’s next move is being closely watched amid growing differences between UDF convener Adoor Prakash and Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, with the Congress once again finding itself caught in its familiar factional battle.
Both camps are keenly watching the next move from the rival camp as the controversy threatens to deepen.
The immediate trigger was Prakash’s public criticism of the Chief Minister over the alleged lack of consultation on major UDF and government decisions. Prakash has maintained that he acted on his own and that his criticism was based on his own experience as UDF convenor.
He has also indicated that he would place his grievances before the AICC.
The Satheesan camp, however, is not accepting the argument that Prakash’s intervention was an isolated one. Questions are being raised within the faction over whether the public criticism had the tacit backing of leaders in the higher leadership.
There is also suspicion over the role of AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Deepa Dasmunsi. At the heart of the dispute is the familiar Congress problem of factional equations.
From the days of K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony to the Oommen Chandy era and now the Satheesan leadership, internal group politics has repeatedly shaped the functioning of the party in Kerala.
The present dispute has revived those equations soon after the Congress-led UDF returned to power. Prakash’s camp is looking towards the AICC for intervention, while the Satheesan camp is watching to see whether the high command will back the Chief Minister’s position.
The delay in organisational restructuring is also being viewed through the factional lens, with one section suspecting that the process is being deliberately prolonged.
Even after four months of the Satheesan government taking over and state Congress president Sunny Joseph becoming the Power Minister, a new president is yet to be announced, causing further embarrassment to the party, and here too, factional feud is the reason for the delay.
Meanwhile, AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal has said that the party has mechanisms to resolve internal differences and that the central leadership will take the lead in settling the issue.
He has also made it clear that he does not favour airing such differences publicly.
The immediate question now is whether the high command can contain the dispute before it develops into another full-fledged factional confrontation in the state Congress.