Former Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala is likely to be appointed the All India Congress Committee general secretary (AICC) in charge of Punjab, although the proposal has not gone down well with the ‘I’ group leaders in the state unit. Chennithala on Friday met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.
At the meeting, Rahul reportedly conveyed the party’s decision to Chennithala as Punjab is going to the polls next year. In addition, there have been some organisational issues in the Punjab Congress. Sources said he conveyed his unhappiness over the way changes were made in the party’s Kerala unit. Soon after the election defeat, the party high command had appointed V D Satheesan as the Leader of Opposition overlooking Chennithala who held the post in the last Assembly. An upset Chennithala had then written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying he felt “humiliated” by the way the central leadership handled the matter and argued a senior leader like him does not deserve such a treatment. He also said he would have resigned from the position had the central leaders hinted that they were in for a leadership change in the state.
Sources said senior leaders like former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former PCC president Mullappally Ramachandran too were not happy and Chennithala has indicated this to Gandhi.
