Chennithala rules out joining Kerala cabinet

By Ashraf Padanna/ThiruvananthapuramRamesh Chennithala, president of the Congress party in Kerala, has clarified he is not joining the state government headed by senior leader Oommen Chandy.“I decided not to join the Oommen Chandy government with the permission of (party president) Sonia Gandhi. I will concentrate on preparing my party for the general elections (due next year),” Chennithala said after discussions with the party leadership in New Delhi yesterday.Chennithala had earlier been insisting on the creation of a deputy chief minister post for himself or that he be given the powerful home portfolio. However, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second largest constituent of the ruling coalition, and Kerala Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan refused to budge on the issue.On Thursday, Gandhi had asked Chennithala to join the cabinet, leading to speculations over the power shift the move could bring.However, Chennithala called on Gandhi yesterday evening after the IUML reiterated its claim to the deputy chief minister’s post it held once.“I was resisting pressure on joining the cabinet right from the start. The proposal came up again during my recent Kerala Yatra (the march from the northern tip of the state to its capital in the south),” he said. “I feel insulted being dragged into this issue again and again”.Chennithala also ruled out a reshuffle in the two-year-old government which is under attack over a “solar scam” in which several people were cheated allegedly with the knowledge of the chief minister’s office.Chennithala’s decision came at the end of a high drama involving two powerful factions owing allegiance to Chandy and Chennithala in the Congress party, which leads the United Democratic Front (UDF).The IUML leadership held an emergency meeting in Malappuram after Chennithala announced his decision and made it clear it had no role in the Congress party factional feud.Chandy said he was not aware of the circumstances under which the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president made the statement and he would be discussing it with the party high command.Chandy had visited the IUML headquarters at Kozhikode before leaving for Delhi on Thursday. However, he failed to convince the party with 20 legislators in the 73-member ruling coalition to drop its claim for the second slot.IUML leader Kunhalikutty, the industries minister, and Finance Minister K M Mani, who heads the third largest ruling partner Kerala Congress (M), who were to join Chandy in Delhi for talks, later clarified they were canceling the trip as they received no call from the Congress president.