THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A crucial meet convened by the KPCC, followed by the state political affairs committee of the Congress, on Tuesday decided to leave the demand of the IUML for a fifth minister to the party high command.The option of fielding former CPM MLA R Selvaraj in the Neyyatinkara Assembly bypoll as a Congress or an independent candidate of the UDF will also be left for the final verdict of the top Congress leadership.KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will go to New Delhi on Wednesday to apprise the Congress high command the details of the discussions. A meeting of the office-bearers of the KPCC, Congress Legislature Party and DCC presidents here turned out to be a virtual one-sided affair with speaker after speaker cutting the IUML to size for persisting with its demand for a fifth minister.While M I Shanavaz MP kickstarted the onslaught, Power Minister Aryadan Mohamed and MLAs K Muraleedharan and T N Prathapan raised the pitch further. Benny Behanan and other known ‘A’ group ideologues were also not far behind in the verbal assault.Oommen Chandy sought to strike a peaceful approach, asking all to work towards an amicable settlement.There was a general view, barring the lone voice of dissent from K Muraleedharan, that Selvaraj should be made the candidate in the Neyyatinkara bypoll. Muraleedharan was highly sarcastic of the practice of awarding plum posts to all those who crossed over from the CPM to the Congress.However, there was a general agreement that the resignation of Selvaraj had boosted the UDF fortunes in the Piravom bypoll. In the political affairs committee meet, a few speakers turned against Government Chief Whip P C George for his apparent intervention in Congress affairs.
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