Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], April 16 : Keralam Minister V Sivankutty on Thursday took a dig at the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) over a "dispute" in the Congress regarding the Chief Ministerial face.
"There is an ongoing dispute in the UDF regarding who the Chief Minister will be. That is the tradition of the UDF. They can expect victory until the morning of the vote-counting day. At present, the Congress has decided on three Chief Ministers. That may increase further. In the last election, the Congress had even decided the portfolios of ministers. But the LDF got a continued rule," Sivankutty said.
Congress MLA Ramesh Chennithala today sought to put an end to what he called controversy over the leadership in Keralam, saying that such matters should be left to the party high command to decide after the election results.
"There's no need for controversy regarding the Chief Ministership of Keralam. On 4th of May, the counting will start. After the counting, if we get a majority, the Congress High Command will decide all these things," he told ANI.
He added that internal matters of the party should not be debated publicly. "This is always the system of the Congress party. There is no need for unnecessary controversy and mud-slinging in social media," Chennithala said.
Urging party workers to maintain unity, he stated, "I'm always away from this kind of activity, but I feel that everybody will stop this, and that is better for the party and the party workers."
He further said that supporters should not be confused by internal discussions. "Party workers and the people who voted for the Congress party should not be put in a dilemma," he said.
Senior Congress leader and MP K Sudhakaran had recently praised All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of organisation, KC Venugopal, stating that "his presence is required in Kerala politics as demonstrated during the Assembly elections".
In a post on Facebook, Sudhakaran indicated that Venugopal should lead the state once UDF won the elections. Venugopal did not contest the Assembly elections held on April 9.
Reiterating the role of the party's central leadership, Chennithala said, "I feel that the Congress High Command is the ultimate authority to decide all these things."
The turnout of voting for the assembly polls in Keralam was recorded 78.03 per cent.