Senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko's resignation today alleging rampant factionalism in the Kerala unit of the party and complaining about inadequacies in the selection of candidates for the upcoming polls, has dealt a body blow to the Congress just weeks ahead of the assembly polls—Kerala goes to polls on April 6.
Chacko, at a press conference in Delhi, also raised the issue of leadership vaccum in the national party. He said the Congress has been headless for more than a year. With regard to the party affairs in Kerala, he said the candidates for the assembly elections were being determined on the basis of the factions in the state unit. He said the ticket distribution was being decided in an undemocratic manner by the two groups—'A', led by Oommen Chandy and 'I', led by Ramesh Chennithala.
Chacko had found himself sidelined in the Congress for the last couple of years. His last important assignment in the AICC was the charge of party affairs in Delhi, where factionalism between former chief minister Sheila Dikshit and her bete noire Ajay Maken dominated the proceedings. The Dikshit camp had accused Chacko of favouring the other side, much to the detriment of the party's fortunes in the city where it found itself sidelined by the Aam Aadmi Party. He was attacked by Dikshit supporters for having despatched an allegedly curt letter to her, days before she passed away.
Interestingly, Chacko failed to find much support today, with his detractors, including leaders in Delhi, which had been under his charge, attacking him. AICC spokesperson Pawan Khera, who was a close aide of Dikshit, responded to Chacko's complaints about groupism in Kerala, on Twitter: “Says a man who actively encouraged and promoted groupism in Delhi.”
Senior leader Anand Sharma, who is among the 'G-23' leaders who have raised serious questions about the manner in which the Congress is functioning, made an outright rejection of Chacko's claims. “There are no two Congresses. There is just one Congress and the president of the party is Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Priority is only to win the elections in five states. There should be no confusion over the fact that the Congress will fight unitedly in these state elections.”