Chandy-Ramesh discord sharpens

Political sources expect Congress high command to intervene in the matter and settle the issue at the earliest

Discord in the Congress in Kerala between chief minister Oommen Chandy and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala has sharpened after the possibility of the latter's entry into the state cabinet with a plum portfolio got dimmed.

What has added a serious dimension to the rumblings over the matter in the last few days is a newspaper interview in which Chennithala had purportedly stated that it would be difficult for him to maintain the same smooth equation with Chandy since he felt that he had been insulted over the ministerial issue.

"The party-government axis will never be the same again. The Chief Minister can go his way and I will go my way. There will not be a compromise anymore," Ramesh told the paper.

When reporters sought his comments, Chennithala said: "I have not given any official interview to anybody", declining to entertain any further queries on the matter.

Political sources expect the Congress high command to intervene in the matter and settle the issue at the earliest as restoring organisational unity is key in the run up to Lok Sabha polls.

The I faction in the PCC, led by Ramesh, wanted the deputy chief ministership and home portfolio for him, but the chief minister was not willing to approve this as his faction, A group, had opposed it.

Heading the state unit for over eight years, Chennithala was recently tipped to join the ministry with a key portfolio.

The move, which reportedly had the tacit approval of Chandy, was also seen as a step to placate the Nair Service Society (NSS), which has accused the UDF government of neglecting the interests of the majority community.

However in his explanation to the media, the chief minister said there was no talk of Cabinet reshuffle on the cards and added that Ramesh, "like in the past, continued to be not interested in joining the Cabinet and the entire episode is a media creation."