Cong leader Joseph criticises public tussle by party supporters over Kerala CM post

Senior Congress leader K C Joseph on Saturday criticised the public tussle by party supporters over the Kerala chief minister post, warning that taking internal matters to the streets could have dangerous consequences. He further criticised the protest demonstrations held in Thiruvananthapuram, saying that they had hurt many party supporters, as the image of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was allegedly torn, knowingly or unknowingly.

Senior Congress leader K C Joseph on Saturday criticised the public tussle by party supporters over the Kerala chief minister post, warning that taking internal matters to the streets could have dangerous consequences. He was referring to protests, flex boards and posters put up by supporters of Congress leaders V D Satheesan, K C Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, who are being considered for the chief minister's post. Joseph was a Congress MLA for 39 years, representing the Irikkur constituency in Kannur and had served as a minister in the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government. In a Facebook post, Joseph said he was remaining silent because ''silence is preferable''. He said everyone should realise that taking the internal affairs of the Congress onto the streets would create dangerous consequences. Joseph also remarked that ''if one spits while lying down, it will fall on one's own face''. According to him, such public disagreements would ultimately harm the party itself. He further criticised the protest demonstrations held in Thiruvananthapuram, saying that they had hurt many party supporters, as the image of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was allegedly torn, knowingly or unknowingly. ''This is not good for anyone. Trying to scratch one's head with a burning stick will be disastrous,'' he said in the post. The Congress won 63 seats of its own in the 140-member assembly, while the United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance has won 102 seats, staging a comeback in the southern state.