Oommen Chandy for KPCC president if solar verdict helps

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KPCC president’s mantle  may fall on a senior leader without group affiliations. The probable names doing the rounds are of MPs Mullapally Ramachandran and K. V. Thomas  whom the AICC thinks can lead all sections of the  party.  ‘A’ group leader Oommen Chandy may be asked to take up the job if the solar commission report on the scam,  which is likely to be released on Tuesday,  gives him a clean chit.

“The UDF allies also want a senior Congress leader  to lead the front. The AICC is keen on electing one of the three-- Oommen Chandy, Mullapally Ramachandran and K. V. Thomas,”   said a senior Congress leader. Mr Chandy’s loyalist  Benny Behanan,  ‘I’ group  leaders like K. C. Venugopal MP, KPCC vice- president V. D. Satheesan MLA and Mr K. Sudhakaran are also eyeing the post. The Chennithala camp has technically agreed to support an ‘A’ group  candidate. Mr Venugopal,  AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, where Assembly elections may take place in December,  may not be spared from his duties.  

Mr Satheesan is a strong critic of the  LDF government and a corrective force within the party. “If the AICC promotes a second-rung leader,   Satheesan has a chance.  But he is a Nair and the AICC wants to maintain communal equations by bringing in a Christian as PCC chief since the BJP has been wooing the Christian community,” said  a source. 

‘A’ faction keeps fingers crossed

The Congress leaders have been  keeping their  fingers crossed as the solar commission was set to present its report here on Tuesday.     It is learnt that   Justice G. Sivarajan, the one-man commission,  will  hand  over the report to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his chamber in the secretariat at 3 p.m.    Any adverse remarks against former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who is involved in the scam, will have serious consequences for the ‘A’ group.   The one-man commission was appointed by the   UDF government after the solar scam broke out. “The Sivarajan commission was appointed as per the demand raised by the LDF which had laid a siege on the secretariat on August 12, 2013,”  said a Congress MLA.

The commission was appointed in  October  2013 by the Chandy ministry. Political Affairs Committee member Benny Behanan, a prominent Chandy group leader,  told DC that they were awaiting the outcome of the commission report. “The inquiry went on  for several years. Let the commission reveal its findings and let truth prevail,”  said  Mr Behanan.   Sources close to Mr Chandy said that he was sure of getting a clean chit. He had come under  a cloud  due to the phone calls made by his personal staff and the use of his forged letter heads  by the fraudsters to defraud the solar customers to the tune of '7 crore.