The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Thursday moved to head off a fresh bout of infighting in the party’s Malappuram district unit.
Escalating tensions between Aryadan Shoukath, an ‘A’ group veteran and son of late Aryadan Mohammad, and the District Congress Committee (DCC) leadership “loyal to the State leadership” have resulted in the stand-off. KPCC general secretary (organisation) T.U. Radhakrishnan directed Mr. Shoukath to desist from holding a meeting outside the ambit of the party “on the pretext “ of voicing solidarity with the Palestine people.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said the KPCC had conducted a comparable meeting earlier and a rerun of the political rally was excessive and tantamount to insurrectionist activity. In his communique, he said KPCC president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan had spoken to Mr. Shoukath several times to thrash out the intra-party tension. They had urged him not to use the organisation formed in his late father’s name to undermine the Congress’ prospects in Malappuram.
The A group in the district had rebelled over the KPCC’s “arbitrary” selection of mandalam presidents and Mr. Shoukath reportedly felt passed over. The faction had expressed disgruntlement and demanded the KPCC repeal the disciplinary action initiated against A group loyalists in the district.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said the Congress saw a clear path to victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and beyond and it could ill-afford to accommodate the self-defeating factional activity.
