Kerala - Kozhikode   

Several probables for post of Kozhikode DCC chief

Biju Govind

Veerankutty wishes to continue in the post

KOZHIKODE: With a revamp imminent in the district unit of the Congress party, the mantle of the DCC president, in all likelihood, will fall on a senior leader who can take on the National Congress (Indira), especially its State president K. Muraleedharan in his home turf.

Among the list of probables for the post is the incumbent president M. Veerankutty, once a protege of Mr. Muraleedharan and his father, K. Karunakaran. Whether the high command would retain him for the post is doubtful though he hopes that the party will reward him for staying back when his bosses formed a new party.

Assurance

"Both Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and the former Chief Minister A.K. Antony during their visit to Kozhikode have assured me that if I wanted I could continue in the post. Removing me, they felt, would give a wrong message to the workers,'' Mr. Veerankutty said, expressing his desire to remain in the post.

Another aspect he feels confident that the party will retain him is his belief that he will be the right choice to wean away a section of the rank and file that had joined the NC(I), particularly when the three-tier local body election is round the corner. Besides, the high command by retaining him will also deftly keep in balance the group equations within the party.

However, the stakes weighing against Mr. Veerankutty would be his "image of unacceptable'' to the leaders of the various Congress sections.

The high command will not easily forget his role in attacking the police policies of Mr. Antony after he was accused of attacking the Office of the Kozhikode City Police Commissioner in 2001 and aligning with the CPI(M) in putting the Chief Minister in the docks on the rehabilitation issue of displaced Muslim families at Marad in 2003.

The issue led to the debacle of the Congress nominee in the byelection held to the Ernakulam parliamentary constituency.

Other `I' group leaders nursing ambitions to be in the saddle of the DCC president's post are N.K. Abdurehman and N. Subramaniyan. While the former had held the post of KPCC joint-secretary and the latter a KPCC member and also State vice-president of Youth Congress when the KPCC president-designate Ramesh Chennithala was its president.

Chances of N.P. Moideen, who had held the post for over 14 years, returning as DCC chief also cannot be ruled out.

Another probable leader from the `A' camp is K.C. Abu, a protege of Mr. Chandy. Earlier he held the post of KPCC secretary.

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Several probables for post of Kozhikode DCC chief

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