Congress Observers to reach Kerala; to decide on Opposition leader after meeting MLAs

Thiruvananthapuram: Observers of the Congress High Command will reach Kerala to evaluate the poll debacle and the team will visit Kerala after May 20. The leaders will meet the MLAs individually one by one to appoint the next opposition leader of the party. After this, the team will decide if Ramesh Chennithala has to continue or not as opposition leader.

The collective opinion of the party leaders is to go for a massive revamp in the party and the parliamentary party. The party has reached a consensus that the revamp will have to be done from booth-level committees. But a revamp at the top rung of the party is not ruled out.

But the parliamentary party leader must be decided immediately. The opposition leader must be appointed well before the Assembly session convenes by June beginning. So after the swearing-in of the new MLAs, a decision on the opposition leader will be taken.

AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Vaithilingam wll reach Kerala after May 20. Though the leaders had planned to reach Kerala within 5 days, the visit was put off by 2 weeks due to the sudden lockdown in Kerala.

The AICC observers will meet the MLAs individually and seek the opinion on the next opposition leader. After this, they will discuss it with the High Command and the decision on the opposition leader will be taken by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi which will be final.