In a jolt to the Congress ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Kerala, four prominent leaders in the party in Wayanad, which is the parliamentary constituency of Rahul Gandhi, have quit the party in the past one week.
Among the resigned leaders, two of them – MS Viswanathan and Sujaya Venugopal – have hinted at joining the CPI(M).
MS Viswanathan, who was the Secretary of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Mahila Congress state Secretary Sujaya Venugopal, PK Anil Kumar who was the General Secretary of Indian National Trade Union Congress and KPCC member KK Viswanathan, are the leaders who resigned from the party. Majority of the leaders who resigned from the party have come out lashing out at the District Congress Committee saying that they are not being given due consideration by the party.
Announcing his decision to quit Congress, MS Viswanathan held a press meet in Wayanad on Wednesday, stating that DCC leadership in Wayanad was a failure. He stated that he hasn’t been given due consideration in the past two Assembly polls in the state. Viswanathan is presently a councillor in Sulthan Bathery municipality. According to reports, CPI(M) leaders in Wayanad were present with MS Viswanathan while he held a press meet, giving a cue that he will be joining CPI(M).
Meanwhile, Sujaya Venugopal reportedly resigned from Congress a few days back. Recently, Sujaya also appeared in a CPI(M) march held in Wayanad’s Kalpetta. The photos of Sujaya being welcomed by Kalpetta MLA CK Saseendran, who is from CPI(M), is being widely shared on social media.
KK Viswanathan, another senior Congress leader in Wayanad, who resigned earlier this week, also heavily criticised the Wayanad DCC.
“Wayanad DCC is under the custody of three members. There are no joined discussions or decision making...During the Opposition Leader’s Aishwarya Kerala Yatra, it was Wayanad district that showed a poor turn out, while in other districts thousands poured in. There has not been a time when I have been humiliated like this in the party, and because of that I am not continuing in the party,” KK Viswanathan had said.
PK Anil Kumar had also come out to the media stating his displeasure with Wayanad DCC, saying that at least with his resignation, the party will rectify its wrongdoings in Wayanad.
Rahul Gandhi contested from Wayanad constituency in the past Lok Sabha polls, which witnessed a major upper hand to the Congress-led UDF. But this new political development might possibly be adverse to the party in the district.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, a CPI(M) leader in Wayanad joined the Congress party. EA Sankaran, who is also the State Secretary of Adivasi Kshema Samithi, is the leader who resigned. In a Facebook post, he wrote that he believes “only Congress can defeat fascists force, BJP'' and that is why he is joining Congress.
(This story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished here with permission.)
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