Decision on Kerala CM likely in 24 hours, says Cong leader Muraleedharan

Amid intensifying lobbying and public campaigns by supporters of the three main contenders for Kerala chief ministers post, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Saturday said the party high command was likely to take a final decision on the issue within 24 hours.

Amid intensifying lobbying and public campaigns by supporters of the three main contenders for Kerala chief minister's post, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Saturday said the party high command was likely to take a final decision on the issue within 24 hours. The Congress-led UDF's sweeping victory in the Assembly polls has triggered hectic lobbying within the party, with flex board campaigns, poster wars and demonstrations breaking out in several parts of the state in support of senior leaders V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala and K C Venugopal. ''The information from Delhi is that discussions on the chief ministerial candidate will be completed within 24 hours,'' Muraleedharan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. The senior leader, however, asserted that flex boards and public demonstrations alone would not determine the leadership issue. ''I will not publicly reveal what I told the high command representatives. I have conveyed the sentiments of the people of my constituency. The opinions expressed by the people were clearly communicated to them,'' he said. ''A decision will come at the appropriate time. Seniority is not the sole criterion while selecting the chief minister. The party has not always followed that yardstick,'' Muraleedharan added. According to him, the views of the majority of MLAs and coalition partners would also be crucial as the Congress-led UDF was not a single-party government. ''The views of coalition partners also have to be considered naturally. This is a coalition government,'' he said. Meanwhile, KPCC president Sunny Joseph told reporters in New Delhi that the Congress leadership was expected to arrive at a final decision at the earliest. He said a meeting involving the three senior leaders would be held at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi at 4 pm. ''I hope a consensus will emerge. We expect a quick decision. The matter has been completely left to the AICC leadership,'' Joseph said. He also urged party workers to refrain from public demonstrations and flex board campaigns over the chief ministerial candidature issue. Senior Congress leader P J Kurien and Kalpetta MLA T Siddique also expressed strong resentment against the ongoing protests, flex board campaigns and public sparring among supporters of various leaders. ''Everyone has the right to express opinions. But destroying flex boards and pouring black oil on them is wrong. These are all pressure tactics. A chief minister cannot be decided through pressure tactics,'' Kurien said. Siddique expressed ''deep pain and disappointment'' over the public attacks targeting senior leaders. ''Leaders who dedicated their lives to public activity should not be humiliated in public. This is not Congress culture,'' he said. The remarks came amid continuing public campaigns across Kerala backing different contenders for the top post following the Congress-led UDF's emphatic victory in the Assembly elections. Apart from widespread flex boards and posters supporting Satheesan, road shows and demonstrations by party workers demanding his elevation as chief minister were reported from various districts. At the same time, flex boards backing Venugopal and Chennithala also surfaced in several places, reflecting growing pressure within different sections of the party ahead of the high command's final decision. The two Congress observers appointed to seek the opinion of newly-elected MLAs had on Friday submitted their report to Kharge and urged the leadership to take a final call on the chief ministerial candidate. The focus has now shifted to the national capital, where the Congress leadership has summoned senior Kerala leaders for discussions on government formation. Leaders, including Satheesan, Chennithala and Sunny Joseph, reached Delhi on Friday night for talks with the party leadership on government formation and the leadership issue.