About a year after the faction led by Mani C. Kappan, MLA, broke away from the party, the State unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has once again plunged back into internal bickering, prompting an intervention from the party leader Sharad Pawar.
With the opponents of the incumbent State president P.C. Chacko dramatically escalating the war by approaching Mr. Pawar directly, NCP general secretary in charge Praful Patel has now convened a meeting of the warring sides to settle the issue. The meeting, scheduled after the Goa Assembly elections, will be attended by Mr. Chacko, NCP legislators A.K. Saseendran and Thomas K. Thomas, national general secretary T.K. Peethambaran and national secretary N.A. Muhammed Kutty.
The party unit has been witnessing an increasingly spiteful factional spat with a section of leaders launching a stinging attack on Mr. Chacko, accusing him of attempting to bring the party under his control by appointing his close-aides in key party positions. The raging feud echoes a broader push by the old guard to curtail the influence of Mr. Chacko and his allies, who are mostly former Congress workers, over the State unit.
