Kottayam: Kerala Congress (J) leader P. J. Joseph said that the United Democratic Front ousting Jose K Mani (Kerala Congress (Mani) faction was a fair decision.
Speaking at a press conference here on Monday, P. J. Joseph compared Jose K Mani to Joseph Goebbels and said that the Jose faction did not uphold the agreement.
“After reaching an agreement regarding the Kottayam panchayat president post, Jose K Mani is reiterating that such a decision was never reached. The UDF did not oust the Jose K Mani faction, they ousted themselves,” Joseph said.
After the disagreement broke out, the Jose faction was not ready to resign from the post even after eight months. All the allies in UDF intervened in the matter. The UDF said that six months in the post was the agreement reached at the state level and demanded the Jose faction to resign from the post. Leaders including P. K. Kunhalikutty, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala asked them to resign from the post but they refused.
It is in this situation that the UDF decided to oust Jose faction from the front. UDF convenor Benny Behanan had said that allies that do not follow UDF’s directions will not be part of the front, Joseph explained.
Allegations that we committed a mistake in the Pala by-election are baseless. It was Jose K Mani who said that the election symbol was K. M. Mani and that they did not need another symbol. Jose K Mani failed to take the stance that K. M. Mani used to take. They refused to approve the party’s constitution.
According to the party constitution, the working chairman takes the decisions in the absence of the party chairman. Jose K Mani did not follow that rule either. He was not upholding any agreements and was saying that the agreements did not exist.
“Earlier, Joseph Goebbels was the master of lying. Now, there is Jose Goebbels,” P. J. Joseph said and added that Jose K Mani did not approve the policies of K. M. Mani.