Battle in Congress rages on

Thiruvanchoor finds fault with Chennithala’s statement

A day after senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala lashed out at Kerala Congress Pradesh Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, the controversy continued to rage with the rival camps hardening their positions. The ongoing tussle hit a new flashpoint on Saturday with senior leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan openly accusing Mr. Chennithala of triggering a new crisis within the party. He said that Mr. Chennithala would have to repent in future for his untimely statement. At the swearing-in ceremony of the Kottayam DCC president on Friday, Mr. Chennithala had said the party’s State leadership was sidelining senior leaders. He had added that senior leader Oommen Chandy should be consulted on organisational issues. “None of us will encourage attempts to mistreat Mr. Chandy. I cannot agree with Mr. Chennithala’s speech that was made by taking Mr. Chandy’s name as a cover,” he said. Accusing Mr. Chennithala for airing his dissent at a party function, he said the speech had indeed dampened the new start to the Kottayam DCC.