KOTTAYAM: Kerala Congress leader Jose K Mani said that his party will take an independent stand in the motion of no-confidence against the state government. He added that his faction will not take part in the no-confidence motion and will refrain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

While rejecting the whip issued by PJ Joseph faction, Jose K Mani said that only Roshy Augustine has the right to issue whip to the party MLAs. "We won't accept the whip issued by PJ Joseph faction. Roshy Augustine has the right to issue whip to party MLAs. UDF has already ousted us from the front and hence they cannot take any action against us," he said.
On the other hand, PJ Joseph termed Jose K Mani's stand as illegal and said that only Mons Joseph holds the right to issue whip to party MLAs. He also added that strict action will be taken against those Kerala Congress MLAs who refrain from taking part in the no-confidence motion as well as voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.