Even as suspense persists over the political stance of the Kerala Congress (M) led by Jose K. Mani in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, the party has now entrusted Roshy Augustine to issue whip to its legislators in the election.
According to the Mani group, Mr. Augustine had been appointed as the party chief whip in a meeting convened by the then party chairman K.M. Mani after the Assembly election in 2016. This was duly informed to the Assembly Speaker by the then parliamentary party secretary Mons Joseph through a letter on June 3, 2016.
After the demise of Mr. Mani, Mr. Mons Joseph once again wrote to the Speaker seeking time to convene a meeting of the parliamentary party to select its leader and this still existed in the Assembly records. Based on this, Mr. Augustine still holds the right to issue the whip in the upcoming Rajya Sabha election and in case of a no-confidence motion.
The move by the Mani group assumed significance as P.J. Joseph, KC(M) working chairman, had earlier asserted his right to issue whip to the party legislators.
In November last year, the Mani group had approached the Speaker seeking to dismiss any claims by Mr. Joseph and his faction for the parliamentary party leader or the parliamentary party whip as these appointments were unlawful and hence void.
Alleging that Mr. Augustine was arbitrarily replaced as the party whip `solely for proclaiming his allegiance to Jose K. Mani,’ it also urged the Speaker to maintain status quo until the Election Commission of India pronounced a final order in the dispute regarding the party symbol `Two Leaves'.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mani, who was recently excluded from attending UDF meetings, preferred to keep the cards close to his chest despite feelers put out by the CPI(M) and a softening of stance by the Congress. So far, he has refrained from making any statements on whether the party decided to align with any coalition.
“The plan to issue whip to its legislators suggest that the party will not be staying independent any more. In that sense, the coming Rajya Sabha election becomes crucial for the regional party as well,” said a KC(M) leader.
The Mani faction will will take an appropriate decision on the Rajya Sabha election only after a parliamentary party meeting to be held soon.