People are being sidelined in Congress party: Chandy Oommen

The Puthuppally MLA threw his weight behind KPCC chief K Sudhakaran amidst reports of a complete organisational revamp in Congress state unit in Kerala, saying his removal from the post was not the remedy.

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress MLA Chandy Oommen, the son of late party stalwart Oommen Chandy, on Tuesday said he was not given any responsibilities during the by-poll in Palakkad and claimed that there were instances of people at the lower levels of the party being "sidelined".

Oommen said that it was neither correct nor acceptable for party members or supporters to be sidelined.

The Puthuppally MLA, however, threw his weight behind KPCC chief K Sudhakaran amidst reports of a complete organisational revamp in Congress state unit in Kerala, saying his removal from the post was not the remedy.

He said that Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sudhakaran has worked hard for the party and the people of the state and the UDF has scored several electoral victories under his leadership.

Therefore, there was no need to remove him and there was no need for any such discussion, he added.

Oommen further said it was necessary to keep everyone together while moving forward and it was the duty of the party leadership to do so.

"I will raise the issue before the KPCC and the national leadership," he said.

Reacting to his statements, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the party will examine why no responsbilities were given to Oommen.

He too said that it was the duty of the party leadership to keep everyone close and together.

He also said that the party leadership will discuss with Oommen the concerns raised by him.

Meanwhile, newly elected Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil said he was not aware of any such complaint as raised by Oommen, the MLA from Puthuppally assembly constituency.

He said that he never had any issues with the Puthuppally MLA whom he views as a brother.

Mamkootathil said that Oommen has addressed his concerns to the party leadership and therefore, they are the ones who have to respond to it.

Oommen also said that while he was in favour of people from every community being part of the Congress leadership, he was not going to insist upon someone from a particular community being part of it.

"We need leaders who can see and treat everyone as equal," he added.