The move to bring Kerala Congress (M) back into the United Democratic Front (UDF) has created a lot of heart burn in the Congress and in the coalition, with several leaders openly expressing their resentment cutting across faction loyalties.
Kerala Congress (Jacob) chairman Johnny Nellore and K. Muraleedharan, MLA, kept off the emergency meeting of the UDF high power committee (HPC), while former KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran made his exit as soon as Mr. Mani arrived to a warm welcome of other leaders.
Prior to his exit, Mr. Sudheeran said the decision to surrender the Rajya Sabha seat to the Kerala Congress (M) would not be beneficial to the UDF. He said the decision lacked transparency and would result in big loss for the Congress party. He said he attended the meeting because he wanted to express his views before exiting.
The leaders of other UDF partners welcomed the return of the Kerala Congress (M), but expressed concern at the mounting differences in the Congress party. Mr. Nellore, who is also the UDF secretary, expressed resentment at the side-lining of smaller constituents, which had a few of their unmet demands.
Mr. Muraleedharan was sarcastic in his comments, and taunted the leadership urging them to consider bringing back the Janata Dal United led by M.P. Veerendrakumar, by promising a sitting Lok Sabha seat. He said he welcomed the re-entry of the Kerala Congress (M), but was not happy with the huge price that the Congress party had to pay. A vast majority of the Congress workers shared this sentiments and he had kept off the UDF meeting to reflect this.
In the meantime, activists of the Youth Congress and Kerala Students Union staged marches to the Cantonment House, the official residence of Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala. By the end of the day, it became clear that the resentment was widespread and had led to cracks in factional loyalties too, with voices of dissonance coming from leaders such as Joseph Vazhakkan, a close aide of Mr. Chennithala.
There were demonstrations in Kottayam, Idukki and a few other districts.