Amidst attempts by the Congress to navigate the United Democratic Front (UDF) through the biggest flare up in the Kerala Congress (M) feud since the Pala byelection, the standoff over the Kottayam district panchayat has exploded into an overt fight between the two sides.
The faction led by KC(M) working chairman P.J. Joseph is all set to move a no-confidence motion against the incumbent president of the local body, a nominee of the Mani group. With just two members in the 22-member council of the district panchayat, the faction desperately requires the Congress support to move a no-confidence motion.
The Congress has eight members in the council, while four members owe allegiance to the Jose K. Mani faction. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has seven members, while the the remaining member belongs to the Kerala Janapaksham.
The rival faction, which has two Parliament members, however, is confident of the the Congress not doing anything that will weaken its position at the Centre. Hence, it stands firm on its position not to surrender the seat even if it causes a strain in the relations within the coalition.
The situation, meanwhile, has caught the Congress completely off guard as it seeks to keep both sides on board in view of the upcoming local body elections. The district leadership of the party, which had acknowledged in public the Joseph faction’s claim over the seat and even called upon the rival group to honour the deal, is now gradually winding down from its initial position and looks up to the top leadership to settle the issue.
A meeting of the District Congress Committee, which was held here on Saturday evening and attended by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee representatives, stayed away from deciding on the no-confidence motion. Instead, it just urged the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the party to settle the issue at the earliest.
“We have requested the PAC to solve the issue at the earliest as the local body elections are fast approaching,’’ said Joshy Philip, DCC president, Kottayam.
Official sources, however, held that the general mood in the meeting was in favour of supporting the Joseph faction’s move. The other day, Mr. Joseph had warned of moving a no-confidence motion against Sebastian Kulathungal, the local body’s president, if he was not tendering resignation by Friday.
The Mani faction, in its response, released the copy of an intra-party agreement drafted on November 5, 2015, which spoke of a seat-sharing agreement between Zacharias Kuthiravelil of the Congress and Mr. Kulathungal.