Thiruvananthapuram: Putting an end to speculation about the new Opposiiton leader in Kerala, former home minister Ramesh Chennithala was on Sunday elected to the post.
Ever since the former chief minister, Oommen Chandy, announced that he would not take up the job after the crushing defeat of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the assembly elections, there had been speculation about the new Opposition leader.
Notably, Chandy himself proposed Chennithala’s name for the post, and the suggestion was backed by Congress MLAs V.T. Balram, Adoor Prakash and V.D. Satheesan.
The decision was approved by the Congress party high command and the message communicated to the coalition parties in the UDF. Representing the high command, senior Congress leaders, Mukul Wasnik and Sheila Dixit participated in the meeting.
Congress MLA and former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, K. Muraleedharan, however, expressed dissatisfaction that the Opposition leader had been virtually chosen before the meeting of the parliamentary party meeting.
Chennithala is identified with the ‘I’ faction in the Congress party, while Chandy is identified with the ‘A’ faction. Chandy will continue as the UDF chairman. The Indian Union Muslim League is the second-biggest partner in the UDF coalition.
