Hectic efforts are on to avert a full-fledged spilt in the Kerala Congress (Mani), a partner of the Congress-led United Democratic Front as both factions, P J Joseph and Jose K Mani, have been advised not to precipitate the issue by UDF partners.
The party had landed in trouble two months after founder K M Mani’s death. On Sunday, K M Mani’s son Jose K Mani, a Rajya Sabha MP, had appointed himself as the Chairman of the party ignoring party working chairman P J Joseph. On Monday, a local court in Idukki had stayed his election as the chairman. The worried Congress has asked both leaders not to precipitate the issue and waste the advantage the UDF got in the recent Lok Sabha elections. It had won 19 out of 20 seats.
The church has also began a reconciliation process to bring both factions around. The Kerala Congress is a predominantly Christian party representing mainly the central Kerala area of the state. Trouble was brewing after K M Mani’s death and his son claimed he was the natural choice for the chairman’s post but the other faction opposed it. Kerala Congress has five legislators-- three are with Joseph and two with Jose K Mani. Following Mani’s death his constituency Pala will also go to by-election in six months along with five other assembly constituencies.
Jose K Mani claimed that he was elected by the state committee of the party but Joseph said he was selected by a crowd, not the constitutional body of the party. Most of the district presidents of the party are with Joseph. After Jose K Mani’s election two senior leaders had moved the Thodupuzha sessions court which later directed him not to use the position of chairman and not to send any communique to the election commission.
{{/usCountry}}Jose K Mani claimed that he was elected by the state committee of the party but Joseph said he was selected by a crowd, not the constitutional body of the party. Most of the district presidents of the party are with Joseph. After Jose K Mani’s election two senior leaders had moved the Thodupuzha sessions court which later directed him not to use the position of chairman and not to send any communique to the election commission.
{{/usCountry}}After the intervention of the Congress and Muslim League, both factions have stopped airing their grievances against each other publicly and its legislators sat as a single bloc in the assembly. PCC chief Mullapally Ramachandran and UDF convener Benny Behnan said all problems in the party would be sorted out amicably.
The Kerala Congress has suffered many splits since its inception in 1960s. Besides Kerala Congress (M) there are three other parties bearing the label of the party the Kerala Congress (Secular), Kerala Congress (Democratic) and Kerala Congress (P C Thomas).