Yet to come to terms with its poor performance in the Assembly poll, the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) is heading for big trouble, with a faction led by State general secretaries Sheikh P. Haris and V. Surendran Pillai seeking the removal of Kerala unit president M. V. Shreyams Kumar for his inimical style of functioning.
Also read: LJD factions reach temporary truce
A meeting of the faction held in Thiruvanathapuram on Wednesday asked Mr. Kumar to step down and pave the way for a democratic set-up in the party. The development comes ahead of the party’s State working committee meeting in Kozhikode on Saturday.
The factional meeting comes hard on the heels of the announcement by LJD national general secretary Varughese George a couple of days ago that the warring factions of the party had decided to end political and organisational differences and stay united. By one account, it revealed that the party is likely to head to a vertical split.
On the development, Mr. Haris accused Mr. Kumar of running the party like a corporate entity. “Violating the directive of the central leadership, he has taken an arbitrary stand of inducting several of his men into various posts to get a majority in the party forum. Already, senior leaders have lost confidence in his leadership,” he charged.
He also claimed that the lone legislator K. P. Mohanan, representing Koothuparamba, stood for the removal of Mr. Kumar from the post. Six district presidents and eight State-level office bearers of the party took part in the rebel meeting.
Unrest has been brewing in the State unit of the LJD ever since Mr. Kumar took over the reins of the party following the death of his father M. P. Veerendra Kumar, besides getting elected with the support of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to complete his Rajya Sabha tenure in 2020.
“All the leaders were against a Rajya Sabha member contesting from Kalpetta Assembly segment. Later, he failed to negotiate to secure a Cabinet berth as well,” Mr. Haris told The Hindu.
During the sharing of posts in various boards and corporations recently, Mr. Haris pointed out that the party was offered to head two ailing corporations and given membership on insignificant boards. “Without a full-time president, the party cannot go forward in the long run. That is why we are seeking his ouster. The central leadership has also been intimated about the decision,” he said.
On anticipating disciplinary action against the rebels, he said that they would deal with the situation when the time was right.
The issue in the LJD is escalating into a full-scale factionalism something akin to the disturbance witnessed in the Indian National League (INL), another constituent of the LDF, which too has a lone legislator, but secured a berth in the Pinarayi Vijayan 2.0 Cabinet.
However, the intervention of the CPI (M) leadership had made the functionaries of the INL factions agree on a ceasefire later.