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In Kerala, posters appear criticising Congress leaders for poll debacle
Posters have appeared in Kozhikode and Kannur for the second consecutive day on Sunday. Earlier state Congress president K Sudhakaran had warned party leaders not to take to social media or other platforms to isolate top leaders and criticise them.
After a humiliating defeat in five states, posters have started appearing in many parts of Kerala against the Congress leadership and All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal.
Posters have appeared in Kozhikode and Kannur for the second consecutive day on Sunday. Earlier state Congress president K Sudhakaran had warned party leaders not to take to social media or other platforms to isolate top leaders and criticise them.
Sudhakaran, known for his tough posture, asked leaders to raise their opinion or dissent only in party forums. “Discipline foremost. If leaders air their opinion freely they will be held responsible,” he said adding it was unfair to criticise top leaders for the setback.
Later, people close to Venugopal also rallied behind the leader posting his pictures with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on social media. But many senior leaders like Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy have called the debacle a temporary setback and said the party has enough strength to bounce back.
A section of Kerala leaders feel that Venugopal was behind the recent changes in the state unit which changed equations within the party. Though factionalism was rampant in the state unit for quite some time top leaders from the state have remained loyal to the Gandhi family.
After the debacle in last year’s assembly elections, the party was forced to carry out major changes and had clipped the wings of two powerful groups by installing a new crop of leaders. It appointed K Sudhakaran MP, a leader from the Communist heartland Kannur as the PCC president and another grassroot leader V D Satheesan as the opposition leader sidelining two powerful blocs led by former CM Oommen Chandy and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala who ruled the party for more than one and a half decades. Both the leaders have been keeping a low profile since then.
