After riven with deep cracks for some time, the Indian National League (INL) finally split with the faction led by former State president A.P. Abdul Wahab forming a parallel committee at a meeting of the party State council here on Thursday. Rejecting the decision of the national executive to dissolve the INL State units, including the State committee and working committee, the faction announced its new office-bearers. Six of them were members of the dissolved committee. The council meeting elected Mr. Wahab as president, C.P. Nasar Koya Thangal as general secretary and M.A. Wahab Haji as treasurer. Mr. Wahab told a news conference after the council meeting that the official INL was the faction led by him and claimed that a majority of the members of the State council were with him. He said the meeting was attended by 77 out of the 120-member council. This apart, 20 members from feeder organisations were with his faction.
The Wahab faction rejected the formation of an ad hoc committee with Minister for Ports and national general secretary Ahammad Devarkovil as its chairman. He said that disciplinary action taken against members after 2018 would be withdrawn.
This would pave the way for the reinstatement of those expelled from the party following the clashes in Kochi in July last year. The new State committee would come into effect on March 31 after completing the membership campaign, Mr. Wahab said. He said the new State council and office-bearers would be elected on that day. The decision would be informed to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) leadership. Incidentally, Mr. Wahab said that no new committee was constituted at the council meeting on Thursday. Instead only the posts of general secretary and treasurer were changed. Mr. Devarkovil, who was supposed to be with the party, had become the leader of a group, he said.
