Will rehaul party on a semi-cadre line: Sudhakaran

‘No one will be accommodated on group basis’

An uphill task awaits the newly appointed Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran to bring warring groups shed their differences and revamp the organisational structure through democratic internal election process in the State.

“My priority is to restructure the party on a semi-cadre line. The KPCC and the District Congress Committees (DCC) will be overhauled. Jumbo committees will be done away with. Only the best will be retained on the committees. Our success will hinge on accountability,” Mr. Sudhakaran told The Hindu on Thursday.

He said the Congress central leadership was crystal clear with the new president on its agenda in the State and that group affiliations would not warrant a post either in KPCC or DCCs.

“Both Oommen Chandy (former Chief Minister) and Ramesh Chennithala (former Leader of the Opposition) have given me the green signal to go ahead with my plans. I also told them none will be accommodated on a group basis. Only the deserved and meritorious will find a place on these committees through a selection process,” he said.

From the K. Karunakaran-A.K. Antony and Oommen Chandy-Ramesh Chennithala binaries, the Central leadership zeroed in on Mr. Sudhakaran who had positioned himself as a frontrunner for the post even when the Assembly election frenzy was at its peak. “I know several tasks and challenges are awaiting me. The Congress is the fulcrum of the United Democratic Front (UDF). I have good rapport with all constituents, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Now an effort has to be taken to bring back those parties that have left the Congress-led coalition,” Mr. Sudhakaran said.

On his style of functioning, Mr. Sudhakaran said he had all along fought the main adversary, the CPI(M) with his aggressive approach. “That style has been adopted not for a losing battle but to fight successfully. There is no need for me to change my style of functioning,” he said, adding that the results could be seen in six months.

Certainly, the Central leadership had a tough job to identify the right person for the KPCC president to take on the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. “The COVID-19 induced lockdown hampered our organisational apparatus. The CPI(M) exploited that situation. But a pandemic will not work for them every time. Now they have started propagating lies to malign me. People cannot be deceived by these nonsense,” Mr. Sudhakaran said.

Source: Read Full Article