Factions reject VM’s demand to oust Consumerfed Chief

Thiruvananthapuram: Though KPCC chief V.M. Sudheeran has demanded the removal of Consumerfed president Joy Thomas, both the factions in the party have rejected his call.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala have decided not to be a party to Mr Sudheeran’s decisions on the party revamp as well as on the Consumerfed issue. Congress leaders alleged that Mr Sudheeran had  been trying to create a rift in the two factions by dragging Mr. Thomas into the issue.  

Mr Sudheeran told reporters here that his demands  were aimed at the  good of the party and that  he would go ahead  with such moves.

The  ‘I’ and  ‘A’ factions are not ready to let Mr Sudheeran have his plans. The cabinet has also decided to grant Rs 100 crore to Consumerfed which is facing corruption allegations.

Mr Sudheeran added that he would not reply to the allegations raised by the Consumerfed president. Later he warned party leaders against holding group meetings.

“The issues  can be resolved here itself. The media highlighting the issues is not correct. We  should try to boost the confidence of the party workers as the people are watching,”  he said.

At the cabinet briefing, Mr Chandy  said “the Consumerfed post  is elected  and government does not have the powers to remove the president.” However, he said that discussions were being held with various sections on the issue.