Row within Congress organization in Secretariat

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress organization in the Secretariat witnessed a row between the A and I groups after the I group held a special meeting yesterday and announced the office bearers and broke into the organizational office. With this, the Secretariat Association seemed to be moving towards a split.

The I group held the meeting at the Mannam Memorial National Club as the election of office bearers was getting delayed due to the group fights. The meeting of the I group came after the A group, which holds the position of president, announced that the election schedule was announced after determining the returning officer for the office bearer election.

MS Jyotish Kumar of the A group is the current president. Jyotish argues that since the President has full power, he should be the one determining the election procedures. However, the I group claimed that the General Secretary has full authority as per the organizational structure. The I group said that it has more support from the workers.

The A group has informed that office bearers will be elected on August 11 and that PC Sabu has been appointed as the returning officer by the executive committee meeting. Tomorrow is the last date for the submission of nomination papers. Scrutiny will take place on August 6. Nomination papers can be withdrawn till August 9.

The A group accused the I group of making a unilateral move by flouting the organizational rules and defying the bylaws. However, the I group said that Anad Ramachandran Nair was selected earlier as the returning officer and 12 of the 23 participants in the executive committee supported Ramachandran Nair.

During yesterday's meeting, the I group announced MS Irshad as the new president and K Binod as the general secretary. Other office bearers are KM Anilkumar (Treasurer), D Anilkumar, A Sudheer (Vice Presidents), Lathish S Dharan, GR Govind and M Reeja (Secretaries).