Congress leaders own up responsibility for election setback in Kerala

While top leaders of the Congress in Kerala took up moral responsibility for the setback faced by the party in the Assembly election, a strong demand to do away with the jumbo committees of the party has come up.

During the political affairs committee meeting of the party on Friday, senior leaders including former chief minister Oommen Chandy and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala owned up for the poor performance of the party in the elections. The demand for the resignation of Kerala PCC president Mullapally Ramachandran was resisted by many. Many leaders opined that over-confidence was the main reason for the defeat, said sources.

A strong demand to put an end to candidate selection based on group loyalties came up during the meeting.

The party reached at a consensus about doing away with jumbo committees of the Kerala PCC. At present, there are 12 vice presidents, 42 general secretaries and around 100 secretaries in Kerala PCC.

A two-day meeting of the political affairs committee would be held later this month for further review.