New Delhi, May 12 (PTI) As the Congress leadership continued to grapple with its chief ministerial pick in Kerala, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday held deliberations with former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs to ascertain their views and end the uncertainty.
After meeting Gandhi, former Kerala Congress chief K Muraleedharan said that the chief minister’s name will be announced by Wednesday.
Another former KPCC chief, V M Sudheeran, said he had a long meeting with Gandhi and briefed him about the ground situation and the mood of the people in Kerala.
He hoped that Gandhi would decide on the chief ministerial pick, keeping public sentiments and mood in view.
Sudheeran was the last to meet Gandhi late on Tuesday evening.
Sources in the Congress leadership also said the party is likely to announce a chief ministerial candidate on Wednesday.
Gandhi held one-on-one deliberations with eight former state Congress chiefs at Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence, and sought their views on the situation in Kerala.
“The final decision will come tonight or tomorrow morning. (Congress president Mallikarjun) Kharge ji will return to Delhi from Bengaluru tonight. Once he is back, one more discussion will take place, and they will talk to Madam (Sonia Gandhi) as well,” Muraleedharan told reporters.
The three main contenders for the chief minister’s post are senior leaders Ramesh Chennithala, V D Satheesan and AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal.
Among those who met Gandhi were former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chiefs M M Hassan, K Sudhakaran and Muraleedharan, Kerala Congress disciplinary committee head Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, and working presidents Shafi Parambil, A P Anil Kumar and P C Vishunath.
Another party leader, Mullapally Ramachandran, will speak to Gandhi over the phone as he was unable to travel.
A decision on the next Kerala chief minister has been pending since May 4, when the Congress-led UDF bagged 102 out of the 140 seats in the state polls held last month, more than a two-thirds majority.
The uncertainty continued even after party observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik met the Congress MLAs in Kerala and gathered their views, following which the central leadership held discussions with the three main contenders, as well as KPCC president Sunny Joseph.
Muraleedharan had earlier said that the chief minister would not be decided merely based on the opinion of party MLAs. Instead, views of the UDF partners and the general public would also be taken into consideration, he said.
The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. Its allies, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has 22, Kerala Congress (KEC) has eight, while the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) has three MLAs. PTI ASK/SKC ARI
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