Parleys for new KPCC chief gain momentum

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The discussion for finding the new KPCC president has gained momentum with home minister Ramesh Chennithala informing the Congress high command that he was ready to relinquish his post. Ramesh has made it clear that there should be a full-time president at the earliest, particularly when the party has to gear itself up for the Lok Sabha elections.
Even though Speaker G Karthikeyan is the front-runner for the post, sources said discussions were on to find an interim president till the Lok Sabha elections. The reason behind such a discussion is that there is a popular demand in the Congress that the present equations appeasing the caste and regional balances should not be disturbed till the election.
The formula worked out by the state leadership was that Karthikeyan will be made the KPCC president and N Sakthan will be the Speaker. T N Prathapan is tipped for the deputy speaker post. It is learnt that V D Satheesan has turned down the speaker post and he prefers to go ahead with the assignment the AICC has bestowed on him.
However, the challenge before the Congress is R Balakrishna Pillai's protest for denying a cabinet berth to his party. The Congress feels that Pillai should not be sidelined at least till the Lok Sabha election, particularly when the solar scam has become a major threat to the Congress. The party fears that Pillai and Ganesh could do enough damage to the party before the Lok Sabha elections, by coming out with startling revelations on the scam.
However, a different opinion has also come up in the party that a candidate from other backward communities should be posted at the helm of the party. The suggestion of an interim president has gained momentum from this too.
In another development, K Sudhakaran is learnt to have told the KPCC leadership that he was not willing to contest again from Kannur for the Lok Sabha elections. It is learnt that Sudhakaran has taken up the responsibility for finding a suitable candidate for Kannur.