Chennithala displeased leaves home before V D Satheesan arrives, dissatisfaction in KC camp

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala leaves home before Chief Minister-designate V D Satheesan arrived to meet him. Chennithala who reached home after visiting Guruvayur was earlier informed of Satheesan’s visit. However, Chennithala left home saying that he was going to visit a close relative. Joseph Vazhackan and Anwar Sadath accompanied him.

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction is also brewing in K C Venugopal’s camp following the announcement of the chief minister. Leaders close to KC allege that there was a planned move against him and that the matter would be brought to the attention of the party high command. The group also questioned why the announcement was delayed if the decision was already in favour of Satheesan. Some leaders have openly voiced their opposition.

Pazhakulam Madhu, MLA elect said that there was an organized attack against KC and demanded to find out who was behind it. He also hinted that the chief ministerial announcement was against the general sentiment of the MLAs.

With the announcement, the move of the KC group is expected to be crucial. Though disappointed after reportedly being sidelined at the last moment from the chief minister’s post, KC Venugopal is likely to focus on retaining his influence in the Congress in Kerala as the party’s organizational general secretary. Since the Congress high command has the final say on the list of ministers, KC is expected to play a key role in that process. Aware of this, V D Satheesan has reportedly requested Venugopal to directly involve in finalizing the ministers.

Meantime, reports say that during discussions with Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi had already decided V D Satheesan’s name. K C Venugopal was upset after being informed about the decision.