Jose K Mani and PJ Joseph
"Kottayam: The patch-up efforts in Kerala Congress faction fight does not show signs of succeeding. In the most recent development, Jose K Mani faction wrote a letter to the Election Commission, requesting it to direct Acting Chairman PJ Joseph to convene the state council. The letter was signed by two MP's and two MLAs.
The other day, Mani faction had handed a letter to Joseph asking him to convene the state committee to elect a chairman which was summarily rejected by the latter. Jose K Mani's letter to EC is in the light of this rejection.
In parallel, the Mani faction is also making a move to convene a rival faction meeting in case the state committee is not convened immediately. This decision was taken by a meeting at Pala, attended by 10 district presidents, two MLAs and prominent party leaders. It was also decided there to proceed with more critical decisions if parliamentary party fails to elect the leader by 9 June.
However, Jose K Mani has also made it clear that he would go to any length to resolve the crisis and reach a consensus. Acting Chairman PJ Joseph at the same time issued a warning that convening a parallel state committee meeting would be treated as anti-party activity, and said that if it is convened, strong action would be taken.
He said that he was trying to solve the issues through consensus. The church authorities and UDF are also in efforts to bring the factions together through a compromise formula.