Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 (PTI) The alleged sidelining of senior leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala in the state Congress over the selection of new DCC chiefs has not gone down well in the party-led UDF, with key partners Muslim League and the RSP saying that the open slugfest in that party will adversely affect the prospects of the front.

Muslim League leader Panakkad Sadiq Ali Thangal said he believes that the appointment of the new DCC chiefs will strengthen the Congress, but made it clear that the open slugfest will hurt the interest of the front.

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Another senior Muslim League leader M K Muneer said that the Congress has the capability to solve its internal problems.

Talking to a news channel, Muneer, however, opined that the Congress would not go ahead by ignoring Chandy and Chennithala.

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"I believe that the party will take all on board", Muneer said.

The RSP has threatened to boycott the next meeting of the UDF if the coalition leadership failed to address the issues raised by it.

Party leader Shibu Baby John alleged that the Congress was a ship "being sunk by its leaders themselves" and could not blame those who tried to escape from it.

The RSP lost all its strongholds in Kollam district and had drawn a blank in the Assembly polls in April this year.

The party leaders alleged that Congress leaders failed to address the issues raised by it on the front's failure in the polls.

The statements of coalition partners came as the new KPCC leadership, led by K Sudhakaran and V D Satheesan, started taking steps related to the organisational matters, allegedly ignoring the wishes of Chandy and Chennithala.

The selection of 14 presidents of the District Congress Committee (DCC) in Kerala has created a rift in the party with several senior party leaders like Chandy and Chennithala coming out openly against the manner in which the selection was carried out.

Some leaders who have switched over to the side of new leadership after ditching both of them have started openly challenging their role in the party.

Kasaragod MP and senior leader Rajmohan Unnithan even asked Chandy and Chennithala sarcastically to form their own party if they wanted only their nominees as presidents of all the DCCs.

With the coalition partners started expressing their displeasure over the developments in the Congress, senior party leaders did not make much public comments today.

Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan chose to distance himself from the row, saying the dispute over the list was a "closed chapter".

Satheesan said he did not want to comment further on the DCC list row or the allegations raised by leaders and any issue related to the organisation would be made clear by KPCC chief K Sudhakaran.

When asked about the expulsion and suspension of leaders in connection with their reactions on the DCC list, he said not just political parties, but every organisation has its own framework only within which its members can function.

He also said the present party leadership has a "positive mission" of reviving and bringing back the Congress party, which had suffered a drubbing in the last two assembly polls.

He also rejected media reports that there was dissent in the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

Meanwhile, the raging controversy in the Congress over the list of new DCC chiefs is yet to die down as the expelled KPCC secretary P S Prasanth continued to level serious charges against AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and the state party leadership on Tuesday.

Prasanth, who was expelled from the Congress after he wrote to the high command alleging that Venugopal was working as "an agent of the BJP", said here that only those who have "direct or indirect commitment" to him had been included in the DCC list.

Announcing the resignation from the primary membership, he also said he was ending his 30 year-long political life in the grand old party with utmost pain in the present circumstance.

A candidate in the Nedumangad constituency in the April 6 Assembly polls, he also said his 'bad experiences' from the party leadership post election had forced him to take such an extreme step.

He said though he had complained against senior leader and ex-MLA Palode Ravi for allegedly trying to defeat him during the Assembly elections, the party state leadership had given him "promotion" as DCC president here.

Prasanth, also the ex-chairman of Youth Welfare Board, also lashed out at Venugopal, alleging he was the root cause of all organisational issues in the Congress party in the southern state.

"He is trying to create a new group in the party's state unit now. Only those who have direct or indirect commitment to him have been included in the present DCC list," he told a press meet here.

Rejecting the charges, senior party leader and Lok Sabha MP Kodikkunnil Suresh today said Venugopal did not intervene in the selection of DCC chiefs.

Besides Prasanth, A V Gopinath, a former president of the Palakkad DCC and a member of the KPCC, had said on Monday that he was ending his 50-year-long association with the Congress party.

Supporters of Gopinath had pressed for his appointment to the post of Palakkad DCC chief, but the leadership selected A Thankappan to lead the party in the district.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)