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Senior Congress politician K Karunakaran's son K Muralidharan has been appointed president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.
The appointment was made soon after rival group leader A K Antony was sworn in as the chief minister.
Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, who held the post of KPCC president, had stepped down on Wednesday to pave the way for Muralidharan, who had been serving as vice-president.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, All-India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Kerala, announced Muralidharan's nomination at a press conference he convened immediately after the swearing-in ceremony.
Muralidharan's elevation is based on an understanding his father had with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Karunakaran, who had resigned from the Congress Working Committee in protest against the alleged neglect of his group in the allotment of tickets for the assembly election, withdrew his resignation only after he wrested this assurance from Gandhi.
This is considered a major victory for Karunakaran, who had suffered a severe personal setback when he failed to ensure a seat for his daughter, Padmaja Venugopal, in the assembly.
Though he got three additional seats for his supporters after his resignation from the CWC, Karunakaran still did not get the much-needed majority in the Congress legislature party to stake his claim for the chief minister's post.
Muralidharan's appointment has evoked protests from various quarters in the party. Leaders of the third faction in the state Congress, G Karthikeyan and Ramesh Chennithala, have voiced their protest to Azad and Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora. They said Muralidharan was too junior and inexperienced to lead a complex party unit like that of Kerala. "He is no match for Mr Antony. His appointment is an insult to partymen in the state," the two politicians said.
Many in the party are apprehensive over the coordination between the party and the government considering the past bitterness in Muralidharan's relations with Antony. He had once called for a public bashing of the senior Congress leader.
Anti-Karunakaran groups in the party are also doubtful of Muralidharan's impartiality. "A PCC president should be impartial. We have doubts whether Mr Muralidharan will be able to rise above factional lines. He had used his positions in the past to promote the group headed by his father," former KPCC president Vayalar Ravi told rediff.com
"The party is badly in need of young, dynamic people. Unfortunately, the youths have been keeping away from the Congress, as they do not see any future in the party unless they are affiliated to any of the existing groups. This situation should change. The party should open its doors to young people for injecting dynamism into the party," Ravi said, adding that only a leader with vision could drive the party into the 21st century.
Ravi said the party chief would have a very important role to play at a time when the people have given the United Democratic Front a big mandate. "The mandate is for bettering the lives of the people. The government can deliver the goods only if there is better coordination with the party. If the party president tries to create problems for the government while it is striving to fulfil the aspirations of the people, it will spell doom for the government as well as the party," he warned.
"We cannot afford to play petty politics when the party is ruling the state. I don't know how mature Mr Muralidharan will be in discharging this responsibility," he remarked.
A section in the party is also sad about Thennala Balakrishna Pillai's removal so soon after the party's big victory in the election. They feel the veteran politician, who had led the party in its difficult days, deserved a better deal.
Azad, however, said no individual leader could claim credit for the landslide victory of the UDF. He said Pillai was appointed KPCC president temporarily and he himself had expressed his desire to quit several times in the past. "He continued on the request of the party high command," Azad said.
The Congress general secretary said Muralidharan's appointment would mark the end of groupism in the state unit of the party. "Henceforth there will be no groups. The new party president will prepare the ground for holding organisational elections within two years," he declared.
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