KPCC to face polls with a jumbo campaign team

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress will plunge into the Lok Sabha election work in the state with a strong team led by Mr K. Muraleedharan, MLA, KPCC campaign committee chairman. The AICC has given him a free hand to include up to 30 members in the committee while it has permitted only 15 members in election management, publicity and co-ordination committees.

Mr Muraleedharan, who camped in New Delhi till Thursday, submitted his list including the names of former DCC presidents.

Though Mr Muraleedharan is eyeing the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, he can handle the statewide campaign and his own candidature well, said sources close to him. 

"AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, Mukul Wasnik, has asked Muraleedharan to include former DCC presidents in his committee. He can accommodate up to 40 leaders and those who are sore with the party for avoiding the KPCC revamp will find a place as a face saving device," said a source.

Meanwhile, those who felt let down by senior leader A. K. Antony and KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran, who failed to go ahead with the KPCC revamp, say that the group leaders were opposed to a generation shift in the party. "Antony and Mullapally had spoken about the need for a new committee.

They succumbed to the group leaders' pressure. No wonder the party cuts a sorry figure with the aged leaders at the helm," said a former DCC president.