Kerala Congress infighting: HC stays EC order on 'two leaves' symbol; breather for P J Joseph faction

In a breather for the P J Joseph faction of the Kerala Congress (M), the Kerala High Court on Friday stayed a recent order of the Election Commission allocating the party symbol to the rival faction led by Rajya Sabha MP Jose K Mani, who is also party founder leader K M Mani's son.

Considering an appeal filed by the P J Joseph faction, the High Court stayed the Election Commission order of August 31 for one month. A detailed hearing on the matter would follow.

Reacting to Kerala HC stay on the symbol allocation, P J Joseph said that truth would prevail.

The Election Commission had issued an order on August 31 allocating the party symbol, two eaves, to the Jose K Mani faction mainly considering that out of the seven MPs and MLAs of the party, four were backing the Jose K Mani faction. However, one of the members had expressed dissent maintaining that neither of the factions could be recognised until fresh affidavits of support were received.

The HC stay is an added setback for the Jose K Mani faction as the Congress-led United Democratic Front on Tuesday decided to keep the Jose K Mani faction out of the front for violating an earlier assurance to share a panchayat president post with the Joseph faction. Though the Left Front sent welcome signs to the Jose K Mani faction, they were yet to announce future plans.

Meanwhile, only the Jose K Mani faction was invited to an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday to discuss deferring assembly bypolls and local body polls. Vijayan maintained that the Jose K Mani faction was the one officially recognised by the Election Commission.

Incidentally, the HC stay came a couple of hours after the statement was made.

The infighting in the Kerala Congress (M), a prominent regional party, broke out after the death of K M Mani, the party chairman, last year. While Jose K Mani claimed the chairman post, P J Joseph, who is a veteran leader and former minister, claimed that since he was the party's working chairman, he should have been made party chief in the absence of the chairman. Though Jose K Mani was earlier elected by his faction as party chairman, it was stayed by a local court.