UDF candidate for Konni P. Mohanraj hugs Adoor Prakash, MP, when he arrived at the election convention at Konni. Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala is also seen.
Meanwhile, the party has offered Mr Peter, currently the Pramadam grama panchayat president, the post of the DCC vice-president.
Thiruvananthapuram: It was not easy for Congress leaders to pacify Adoor Prakash who had a fit for rejecting his nominee Robin Peter for Konni assembly seat that he vacated for the Lok Sabha.
Even though he turned up at his election convention on Monday, things are not going to be easy for P. Mohanraj in Konni as many local leaders are not comfortable with him.
But now it is a do-or-die battle for the ‘A’ group and Prof P. J. Kurien who clinched the seat for the former DCC president. Senior leaders are still on a firefighting mission.
After opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala’s meeting with him KPCC president Mullapally Ramachandran also held closed-door talks with Mr Prakash on Monday, minutes before the convention, in his desperation to settle the issue.
A senior Pathanamthitta DCC official said a loyalist gave the five-term Konni legislator an audiotape of DCC president Babu George saying the Attingal MP has no business in Konni. “It is not known to whom he was talking,” he told DC. “But this audio file is believed to have calmed Mr Prakash.”
The disquiet was visible at the convention as well. When Mr George offered to garland Mr Prakash, he ducked it.
Meanwhile, the party has offered Mr Peter, currently the Pramadam grama panchayat president, the post of the DCC vice-president. Mr George and Mr Mohanraj had alleged that he was not even a DCC office-bearer and a panchayat president need not be given the ticket just because Mr Prakash lobbied for him.
“Mr Kurien played the trump card of getting the NSS leadership to bat for Mr Mohanraj,” a senior MP told.
“The veteran of six consecutive Lok Sabha election wins is keen to see a non-Christian candidate to buttress his claim for a 2021 nomination after long innings in Delhi.”
The KPCC leadership fears the war of words to resume after the by-elections.