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Kerala Cong unable to reach consensus on candidates

Trivandrum - The committee has postponed its meeting to Friday.

 The selection of assembly election candidates in the Congress party that heads the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala has run into trouble with party chief V.M. Sudheeran and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy clashing over the candidature of five sitting MLAs, including three ministers, in the candidates' screening committee meeting in New Delhi.
The panel that met twice on Wednesday could not finalise the list of party candidates as a consensus could not be reached on the candidature of Excise Minister K. Babu, Culture Minister K.C. Joseph, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and legislatures Benny Behnan and A.T. George.
The committee has postponed its meeting to Friday after both Sudheeran and the Chandy camp remained adamant on their stand. Sudheern had opposed the candidature of the five as some were facing corruption charges and others have been in the fray for long.
While names of Babu and Benny figure in the bar and solar scams, Prakash is embroiled in a land scam. He has opposed the candidature of Joseph as he has been representing Irikkur constituency in Kannur district for the last seven terms.
While Babu, Joseph and Benny are strong lieutenants of the chief minister, Prakash is a prominent leader of 'I' group led by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. Chandy has opposed Sudheeran's move as it tantamount to portraying his ministry as corrupt.
Reports from New Delhi said that Chandy had threatened to withdraw from the fray if his colleagues were denied ticket on the ground of unsubstantiated allegations against them. He reportedly told the screening committee that the yardstick Sudheeran sought to apply in the case of the four were applicable to him as well as he was also facing corruption charges and was similarly in the fray for long time.
What has dismayed the Chandy camp is the silence maintained by Sudheeran on other tainted leaders in the candidates' list. They site this to question the party chief's actual motive. Followers of Chandy believe that Sudheeran is actually trying to clip the wings of the chief minister by denying tickets to his stout lieutenants.
news@khaleejtimes.com
 

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