Congress replaces Kerala unit chief

Thennala Balakrishna Pillai was on Wednesday appointed the new chief of the Congress unit in Kerala in place of P P Thankachan amid indications of a major cabinet reshuffle soon after the assembly session scheduled to begin on June 25.

Thankachan was a nominee of K Karunakaran. Senior leader A C Jose has been made vice-president in the new setup, which will have three general secretaries.

Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who is also in charge of Kerala, made the announcement in Delhi. The revamp comes in the wake of the party's unprecedented rout in the state in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.

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Chief Minister A K Antony was recently in Delhi for a series of meetings with party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders, including Patel.

After the meetings, Antony had said that he would accept whatever decision the high command would take for strengthening the party organisation in the state.