Congress' dirty linen refuses to stay private in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: In the Congress, calls for discipline often have a curious shelf life. No sooner does the leadership ask party leaders to stop washing dirty linen in public than another round of public recriminations breaks out, proving that the Grand Old Party's internal rumblings are rarely far from the surface.

Incidentally the first salvo was fired by Lok Sabha member and UDF convenor Adoor Prakash and since then it has been a free flow.

The latest reminder came from Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan, who on Thursday demanded strong disciplinary action against K. Sudhakaran and Jebi Mather for making public statements in violation of the KPCC president's directive against making public statements on the party's internal matters.

While Sudhakaran is a Lok Sabha member, Mather is in the Rajya Sabha.

The outburst comes barely days after KPCC president Sunny Joseph, who also holds the Power portfolio in the state government, urged party leaders to behave responsibly and refrain from discussing internal matters in public.

But Unnithan's warning suggests that the message has yet to find universal acceptance.

He said neither Sudhakaran nor Mather enjoyed any special privileges in the party and insisted that those violating the leadership's instructions should face action.

Taking particular exception to Sudhakaran's public expression of displeasure over being replaced as KPCC president, Unnithan pointed out that the change had not happened overnight.

Sudhakaran had several opportunities to air his grievances, he said, adding that preparing a statement in writing and reading it out publicly amounted to a serious breach of discipline.

He was equally dismissive of Mather's intervention, noting that previous Mahila Congress presidents had not publicly commented on party affairs.

He sarcastically wondered whether she enjoyed any special authority to do so.

The more telling part of Unnithan's intervention, however, was his warning that the leadership's response would determine whether others continued to observe the ban on public statements.

If no action was taken against the alleged violations, he and others would also speak out publicly, he warned, adding that they had plenty to say and would do so regardless of the consequences.

What makes the latest episode noteworthy is that it comes when the party is in power in Kerala, a period when internal disagreements might be expected to take a back seat to governance.

Instead, the familiar spectacle has returned, a leadership appeal for restraint, followed by another leader demanding action against those who ignored it.

In the Congress, it seems, the problem is not finding dirty linen but persuading everyone to wash it in private.

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