Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and Member of Parliament K. Sudhakaran on Monday said the party's stand regarding the DCC chiefs' list has been clarified and it was not going back on it for more discussions.
Sudhakaran asked everyone to "wait for six months" to see the changes in the Congress party here.
As the voice of dissent grew louder against the KPCC leadership over the selection of the DCC presidents, the Congress today cracked the whip expelling KPCC secretary P.S. Prasanth from the party who wrote a letter to the high command alleging that AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal was working as "an agent of the BJP".
In a press release issued in the evening, Sudhakaran said Prasanth has been expelled from the party for challenging the Congress high command and making wild allegations.
Amid efforts by the leadership to establish peace, the Congress suffered a severe blow in Palakkad with its strongman in the district, A.V. Gopinath, announcing his resignation from the primary membership of the party.
The selection of 14 presidents of the District Congress Committee (DCC) in Kerala has created a rift in the party with several senior party leaders, like Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, coming out openly against the manner in which the selection was carried out.
Speaking to the media in Thiruvananthapuram, Sudhakaran said the party cannot move forward if it keeps discussing only this issue daily and therefore, for the good of the party it has been decided to "close the chapter".
Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy told the media that discussions with Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V.D. Satheesan with regard to the selection of DCC chiefs were incomplete.
Only one round of discussions were held as against Sudhakaran's claim that two rounds of talks were held, Chandy said.
Subsequently, when Sudhakaran spoke to the media he said the party needs Chandy and Chennithala always with it and wants them to cooperate with it.
On the resignation of senior leader and ex-MLA Gopinath from the primary membership of the party, the KPCC president said he was confident that Gopinath will not leave the Congress.
Sudhakaran said that he has a close relationship with Gopinath and was sure that the latter would not leave him and go.
He said that he would take the required steps for bringing him back to the party.
Gopinath, a former president of the Palakkad DCC and a member of the KPCC, said he was ending his 50-year-long association with the Congress party.
Announcing the resignation from the party at a press conference in Palakkad, the senior leader said he would not like to continue as a stumbling block in the progress of the party for which he worked tirelessly for the last five decades.
Supporters of Gopinath had pressed for his appointment to the post of Palakkad DCC chief but the leadership selected A. Thankappan to lead the party in the district.
Gopinath, who enjoys grassroot level support, had alleged that he had been sidelined in the party for the past many years and said he would not take the matter lightly.
While addressing the media here, Sudhakaran also said that no timeline has been fixed by the high command for finalising the list of KPCC members as well as the leadership at the block and panchayat level, but it will be done "at the earliest".
He asked everyone to wait for six months more to see the changes in the Congress party here.
Sending a strong message to those leaders who violate the party discipline, the Congress also issued show cause notices to two of its senior leaders, who were temporarily suspended two days ago for publicly expressing displeasure over the selection of the party's district chiefs in the state by the AICC.
In the notices sent to former MLA K. Sivadasan Nair and former KPCC general secretary K.P. Anil Kumar, the KPCC president directed them to respond in seven days, else follow up action will be taken against them.
