Malappuram (Keralam), Nov 10 (PTI) Former minister and CPI(M) leader K T Jaleel on Tuesday criticised the IUML for allegedly interfering in the Congress's internal affairs, saying the party was now paying the price for backing a particular leader in the race for the chief minister’s post.
In a Facebook post, Jaleel took a dig at the League leadership a day after police registered a case against 12 Muslim Youth League leaders, including its supremo Sayyid Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal, over alleged traffic obstruction during a rally held as part of the organisation’s state conference in Kochi on Sunday.
Jaleel also referred to the absence of senior Congress leader and state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala from the Youth League conference, suggesting that it reflected the consequences of the Indian Union Muslim League’s stand on the Congress’s internal leadership affairs.
However, a source in Chennithala’s office said his absence was not intentional.
The source said the home minister was scheduled to attend the programme on Sunday but reached the venue late as he was busy with engagements in his constituency of Haripad.
By the time he reached Kochi, the programme he was supposed to attend had already concluded.
He then left without attending the event, the source said.
The political context of Jaleel's remarks was the Muslim League's reported support for V D Satheesan during the Congress leadership tussle over the chief minister's post, in which senior leaders Ramesh Chennithala and K C Venugopal were also contenders.
Jaleel said the price the League had to pay for taking sides in the Congress’s internal affairs would not be limited to being sidelined in Delhi, in an apparent reference to allegations that the League was denied due prominence in the Congress-led agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Recalling the League’s intervention when K Karunakaran was replaced by A K Antony as chief minister, Jaleel said the party had since behaved as though it had a birthright to interfere in the Congress’s internal matters.
In an apparent reference to the leadership contest among Satheesan, Venugopal and Chennithala following the Congress’s Assembly poll victory, Jaleel alleged that while other constituents of the United Democratic Front (UDF) accepted the Congress high command’s decision on leadership, the League insisted on a particular leader, leaving the other two contenders humiliated.
"They will use any opportunity to settle scores with the League. That is only human nature," he said.
Jaleel also wondered whether the police cases against Youth League leaders, including Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal, for allegedly obstructing public movement were the price the League had to pay for expressing its opinion on who should head the coalition partner.
The case against the Youth League leaders was registered by Ernakulam Central Police in connection with a rally organised by the outfit’s state committee from Goshree Junction to Marine Drive on Sunday.
According to the FIR, around 2,000 people took part in the procession, which allegedly caused traffic obstruction.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)