THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress has started making moves to retrieve the lost minority votes in the local body polls. The move comes in the wake of CPM strengthening its campaign on mobilising the majority votes. Congress has decided to ensure the active involvement of Oommen Chandy to regain the faith of minority communities in the state.

As a first step to begin discussions with minorities, Congress leadership has appointed a panel under the chairmanship of K Muraleedharan. In the second phase, other senior UDF leaders like P J Joseph, Kunhalikutty, Ramesh Chennithala and Oommen Chandy will enter the arena. Workers have strongly demanded to appoint Oommen Chandy as chairman of the campaign committee.

Even after the high-level party decision not to remove Mullappally Ramachandran from the president post of KPCC, the unofficial demand from district units to appoint Muraleedharan and K Sudhakaran as party chiefs are the new headaches to the ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups in the party. If Mullapally is removed from the president post, then Congress workers will whisper each other that it occurred due to the Muslim League’s influence. With just 4 months left for the assembly polls, a quick change in the state leadership will puzzle the local leaderships of the party. Even if a change is initiated then K Sudhakaran must be made KPCC president to woo the Ezhava community in the state. But a section in the Congress is hesitant for Sudhakaran’s rise to the top job which is now indirectly helping Mullppally to continue in the party chief’s post.

The party is also planning to move carefully in bringing Oommen Chandy to the forefront. Because if Chandy’s image in the party mares opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, it would create a wrong impression among the majority communities in the state.