Kottayam: Since the death of Kerala Congress (M) leader, Mani, a few months ago, the fate of the party was in doldrums. With two factions within the party vying for the post of Chairman and other coveted positions, the party is facing a possibility of a split.
One faction is led by Jose K. Mani, who is the son of the late Mani who was the de-facto leader of the party till his death. The other is led by P. J. Joseph, who merged his own version of Kerala Congress party with Mani group a few years ago.
Kerala Congress has a history of countless splits and merges according to the direction of the political winds in Kerala.
P. J. Joseph claims that he is naturally the Chairman of the party since he was the Working Chairman when former Chairman, Mani, died in office. However, Jose K. Mani and his supporters contest this and claim the position of chairman for Jose K. Mani.
Jose K. Mani had demanded that the party’s State Committee should be convened to elect the new Chairman. His faction is strong in the Committee and he knows that he will comfortably win if a vote is cast to elect a Chairman. However, Joseph was adamant and refused to convey the State Committee of the party.
Meanwhile, P. J. Joseph wrote to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and announced the Parliamentary party meeting would be held on 9 June. This led to deeper disagreements and an open letter by Jose K. Mani faction was shot to P. J. Joseph that criticized him severely.
Effigies of P. J. Joseph and another Joseph group leader, Mons Joseph, were burnt by Jose K. Mani faction. This has led the fight between the two factions on to the streets. The president of the Edavettil Mandalam Committee, Jayakumar Puthiyedath, who orchestrated the effigy burnings, has been removed from the post. However, Jose K. Mani faction has come in support for him and said that the ad hoc Chairman, P. J. Joseph, do not have the right to remove a member.
P. J. Joseph said that he took over the party Chairman post as per party constitution and would not yield to the pressure exerted by Jose K. Mani.
With both the factions refusing to budge from their respective demands for the Chairmanship it is evident that the party is moving towards a split.
The Congress party have called on both the factions to come to terms and avoid a split.
