Chandy had undertaken the trip to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders to register his protest against the ongoing organizational revamp in the State as the national leadership has already announced organizational elections. In his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Chandy is learnt to have demanded that the organizational revamp and the appointment of new secretaries should be stopped.

Reports have it that Sonia turned down the request on the ground that the reorganization of the party is going on in many states and that there cannot be a different policy for Kerala alone. If an exception is made in the case of Kerala, other states may come up with similar demands defeating the very purpose of the all-India exercise. In other words, Chandy’s mission Delhi has drawn a blank, and it constitutes a severe setback not only for Chandy but also for Ramesh Chennithala who has identified himself with the protest made by Oommen Chandy.

The reason why the Chandy-Chennithala duo is keen on avoiding an organizational revamp is clear. They believe that the official team led by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition (LOP), V D Satheesan would take undue advantage of the exercise to further firm up their position in the state. They are credited with the view that if ‘free and fair’ party elections are held, the groups headed by them would win hands down.

But the High Command seems to be in no mood to oblige them. While for form’s sake it has directed Sudhakaran and Satheesan to address the concerns of Chandy and Chennithala, the High Command is unlikely to allow the group managers to upset the ongoing organizational revamp. The KPCC chief and the LOP, armed with the green signal from the High Command, are, therefore, firm in their decision to go ahead with the organizational rejig.

Chandy is also unhappy about the disciplinary action taken by the KPCC chief against his close aides. He has contended that the latest disciplinary action against some party office-bearers close to him are in blatant violation of the party’s constitution. He is also upset about what he thinks is a concerted moved to undermine the importance of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the highest policy-making body of the Congress in the State. Chandy has alleged that the KPCC chief and the LOP are taking arbitrary decisions bypassing the PAC. The PAC is being sought to be reduced to a mere advisory body by the KPCC leadership. This is the grievance of the Chandy-Chennithala duo. Sudhakaran’s declaration that all crucial decisions would be taken by the newly-formed 23-member state committee has further angered the group managers. This has been opposed by many leaders who say that the PAC is – and should remain – the top policy-making body.

Meanwhile, several leaders who belong to the anti-Chandy group have dashed off a letter to Sonia Gandhi in protest against Chandy’s latest moves, which they believe, will harm the party in the long term. They say that the Chandy-Chennithala team ran the party according to their sweet will and pleasure for 18 years. Now that the leadership has been handed over to a new team which has the firm backing of the High Command, the group leaders should allow them to function without let or hindrance.

The million dollar question, however, is: Will Chandy and Chennithala allow that to happen? Now that Sonia has said a firm no to their demands, the ball is back in the courts of Chandy and Chennithala. What remains to be seen is whether they will stop their ‘rebellious’ activities. Or will they continue to create hurdles in the way of the Sudhakaran-Satheesan team? The duo in fact finds themselves on the horns of an acute dilemma. They think that if organizational revamp is stopped and party polls are conducted, they have a good chance of regaining their lost ground and clout in the State party. That explains their desperate efforts to somehow stop the ongoing organizational rejig. On the other hand, if they resign themselves to the new ground reality, the result will be total marginalization and political irrelevance. It is a Hobson’s choice for the Chandy-Chennithala combine. (IPA Service)