Kerala vigilance probe move stuns A' group leaders

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress, especially the ‘A’ group, has suffered its worst blow ever since it was routed in the Assembly elections in 2016 with the indictment of its leaders by the solar commission and the LDF government’s decision to file vigilance cases against them.

Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who  had been using pressure tactics with the AICC for getting his various demands conceded,  will lose his clout considerably as his role in the solar scam has been revealed by the commission.

A pall of gloom has descended on the ‘A’ camp as its prominent leaders, including former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, former power minister Aryadan Muhammed and former MLAs Thampanoor Ravi and Benny Behanan, are among the accused. 

Mr Behanan was in the running for the KPCC president’s post also. Mr Chandy had wisely decided against holding any organisational post owning up responsibility for the poll defeat.

“Chandy has been on the  war path with the AICC leadership after the DCC presidents were appointed last year. Now, the solar report may mark the end of the road for Chandy and his group,” said a top ‘I’ group leader.

Those from the ‘I’ group who have been hit by the solar commission report are Alappuzha MP and AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal, former revenue minister Adoor Prakash, Ernakulam MLA Hibi Eden, Wandoor MLA A.P. Anil Kumar and KPCC general secretary N. Subramanian.

Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala can heave a sigh of relief that his camp has suffered less  compared to the 

‘I’ group as most of its prominent leaders have been named by the commission except Irikkur MLA K. C. Joseph. 

“The fate of the Congress is at stake even in Karnataka which is under the charge of  Venugopal as AICC general secretary. 

The latest developments have come at a time when AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been trying for a comeback at the national level,” an AICC leader told this newspaper.

Revive Congress: Keep tainted off KPCC head

Revive Congress has demanded that those Congress leaders who have come under the wrath of the solar commission should not be included in the list for the KPCC governing council. They have also demanded that the tainted leaders should be removed from party posts as well.

In a Facebook post, Revive Congress has demanded that the party has to restore its tainted image. So they have asked the leadership that those tainted leaders who have been involved in the solar scam should themselves keep away.
Revive Congress has also demanded that as per the consensus reached between the 'A' and 'I' leaderships, the same set of leaders who have been involved in the solar scam should not be included in the KPCC governing council list which is pending before the AICC leadership. The youth brigade who have vowed to cleanse the party from factional politics have claimed that they would continue to raise their voice against corruption.