After managing to get both her party's official nominees
elected in the April 14 Rajya Sabha election in Kerala, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, is now grappling with the problem of dissidence in the state unit.
A rebel candidate propped up by the K Karunakaran faction of the Kerala Congress came close to ruining the Congress party on April 14. While the official Congress candidates -- Vayalar Ravi and Thennala Balakrishna Pillai -- secured 38 and 36 votes, respectively, the rebel candidate, Kodoth Govindan Nair, bagged 26, a respectable count by any standard.
When Nair filed his nomination for the RS election, 20 Congress MLAs had signed in his favour. It would require only 21 MLAs to split the Congress legislature party in Kerala without attracting the provisions of the anti-defection law.
No wonder then, Sonia seems to be in no hurry to punish Karunakaran. Evere since the results were declared on Monday evening, she has contacted a large cross-section
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