Public demonstrations in favour of CM hopefuls part of divisive tactics: Rajmohan Unnithan

Unnithan said that Venugopal and senior party leaders V D Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala were eligible to lay claims to the post of CM and supporters can carry out public demonstrations for that, but it has to be done by following the party discipline.

Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan on Saturday broke his silence over the next Kerala CM issue, terming the demonstrations in favour of the chief minister hopefuls by destroying the flexboard of party general secretary K C Venugopal as ''divisive tactics''. Unnithan said that Venugopal and senior party leaders V D Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala were eligible to lay claims to the post of CM and supporters can carry out public demonstrations for that, but it has to be done by following the party discipline. Regarding the mode of selection of the CM, the MP from Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency said that not just party MLAs, every member of team UDF -- including IUML, Kerala Congress (KEC) and Revolutional Socialist Party (RSP) -- were entitled to express their opinion. Unnithan also strongly criticised certain remarks by a party MLA in connection with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on the CM issue and said that 'team UDF' included all of its constituent members who were entitled to air their views on who should be the chief minister. ''None of the MPs or MLAs in Kerala can say that the League cannot comment about internal matters of the Congress as the IUML is part of team UDF,'' he said. The Congress MP from Kasaragod said that remarks against someone expressing their views shows ''intolerance'' and questioned the right of the party MLA to make such statements. ''In fact, all the minority and religious groups who helped UDF win are eligible to express their views on the matter,'' he added. Though he did not mention the MLA's name, he was referring to Mathew Kuzhalnadan, who had a couple of days ago remarked that the IUML will not interfere in the internal matters of the Congress, and the media was creating confusion over the issue. He said that no one should show intolerance to someone indicating their view and reminded that the observers sent by the party high command had spoken to everyone, including the UDF constituents like IUML, KEC and RSP, among others. Unnithan urged everyone to wait for the party high command's decision instead of taking to the streets with demonstrations violating party discipline. ''Once the party high command's decision comes, no one loyal to the party will say a word against it,'' he said. Referring to the destruction of a flexboard of Venugopal, which also contained an image of late Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy, he questioned why no party leader spoke out against it. He said that many party leaders prayed at Chandy's grave after their candidature was announced, during the campaigning phase and after winning and shed copious amounts of tears, ''but none of them spoke out when a flexboard with his image was destroyed''. ''People who destroyed the flexboard of Venugopal, which contained images of other leaders, including Chandy, cannot be seen as part of Congress,'' he said. The Kasaragod MP said that many party leaders and MLAs are in Delhi trying to get good ministerial posts or with an eye on the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief position, as the incumbent, Sunny Joseph, is expected to be made a minister. Venugopal, Satheesan, and Chennithala are in the race for the CM post. Unnithan said that claims by factions of the three leaders about the number of MLAs supporting them made him think that Congress had 100 legislators, not 63. He said that everyone knows how many MLAs support each faction, yet exaggerated claims are still being made. ''How many MLAs support which leader, the UDF partners and religious leaders favour whom, whom are the MPs and senior Congress leaders backing, all of it would be clear from the report of observers. ''So, I urge everyone to wait for the final decision and not to take to the streets with such demonstrations which destroy party leaders' flexboards, as that amounts to divisive tactics,'' he said and warned Congress workers to adhere to party discipline. Satheesan, Chennithala and KPCC president Sunny Joseph arrived in Delhi on Friday night for talks with the party leadership regarding government formation and the leadership issue.