Congress leaders hold talks with Mistry

KOCHI: In the backdrop of issues haunting the Congress and the UDF, the state leadership on Saturday held a one-to-one talk with AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala, Madhusudan Mistry. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala and UDF convenor P P Thankachan held discussions on issues over the recent reshuffle of key portfolios and the fifth ministership to IUML.
Chandy along with Power minister Aryadan Mohammed held discussions with Mistry at the guest house for about half an hour. Thankachan met Mistry separately and held a closed door discussion for more than 15 minutes.
It is learnt that the recent reshuffle and the fifth ministership issue along with Rajya Sabha seat were discussed.
Chandy had told Mistry about the need of keeping united in view of the Neyyattinkara bypoll. When asked about the discussions, Chandy told reporters that all the issues were discussed. “Everything could not be revealed to the public. All issues were discussed,’’ he said.
On the R
ajya Sabha seat, he said that it was for the High Command to decide. However, he said that the Congress would suggest some names for the post. Aryadan is known to have told Mistry about his difference of opinion on the fifth ministership.
He had told the AICC general secretary that it would be dangerous to the unity of the party if things continued like this. However, he later told reporters that there was only a slight misunderstanding and that had been resolved in the talks between the Chief Minister and Mistry. Later, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala held talks with Mistry when the two met at the Mahapanchayat, a meeting of the Congress local body members. It has to be noted that Mistry was not part of the function in the beginning when the programme was charted out. It was only a few days back that Mistry was included in the programme. Sources said that Mistry was deliberately included in the list for creating a platform for the leaders to interact with him.
Though the leaders had said that all issues had been sorted out, some of the leaders still believe that the friction between the two still remained.
When addressing the meeting, the leaders were keen to highlight the need for unity within the party. Chennithala said that everyone had the responsibility to move ahead with unity. Mistry in his speech again asked all the party men to be united. "I simply request to work unitedly. Unity among us is very much needed. Issues could crop up among us but it has to be sorted out,’’ he said.