Factional fight in Congress' Kerala unit as co-op board suspended

The factional feud in Congress' Kerala unit took a new turn as the state Co-operative Consumers' Federation Ltd. (Consumerfed)'s board of directors was suspended by the state cooperative department, which ordered a detailed probe after a preliminary probe has found out corruption.

The apex body of consumer co-operatives in Kerala and running more than a 1,000 shops selling provisions and other items, Consumerfed board of directors' had a clear-cut divide between the factions of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.

Sateeshan Pacheni, one of the board members and a close aide of Chandy, had been going hammer and tongs against chairman Joy Thomas, a known close aide of Chennithala.

"We welcome the probe but this has reached this stage because of a deep-rooted conspiracy and also due to factional feuds. I took a strong stand in the daily running of the organisation," said Thomas after the news of the board's suspension surfaced.

State Congress president V.M. Sudheeran had also joined issue, shooting off a letter to Chandy earlier this month seeking removal of Thomas in the wake of all the allegations. The crisis intensified as managing director and Additional Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachenkery saw himself booted out after he took a strong stand against corruption in Consumerfed.

Reacting to the new developments, Chennithala told reporters on Friday that when it comes to fighting corruption, there are no groups in the Congress.

"This should be seen as a brave and bold decision," he said, adding more decisions are in the offing and will be announced on Monday.