Sunny Joseph assumes charge as new president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Senior leader and three-time MLA Sunny Joseph on Monday took charge as the new president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) at an event here.
In a function held at the party headquarters here, outgoing president K Sudhakaran handed over the charge of the party state unit to Joseph.
Besides Joseph, P C Vishnunath MLA, Shafi Parambil MP, and A.P. Anil Kumar MLA assumed office as working presidents of the state Congress, and Adoor Prakash MP took charge as the UDF convener during the ceremony.
Several party leaders and workers gathered at the headquarters to witness the long-awaited leadership change ahead of the upcoming crucial local body polls and the state assembly election.
Before proceeding to the KPCC headquarters, Sunny Joseph visited Congress veteran A.K. Antony at his residence here and sought his support and blessings for the new role.
Addressing reporters here later, Antony said he has complete confidence in the new team under Joseph.
He said the AICC leadership has entrusted the team with the responsibility of bringing back the Congress-led UDF into power in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly polls.
"I have complete confidence that the new team led by Joseph can fulfil their responsibility. If they can win the trust of all sections of people besides strengthening the Congress and the UDF, we can achieve a greater victory in 2026 than the party garnered in 2001," he said.
It was on May 8 that the AICC underwent a complete overhaul of the leadership in the state by replacing Sudhakaran with three-time MLA Sunny Joseph, ending weeks of uncertainty over a change of guard in the Congress party in Kerala.
Although Sudhakaran had expressed his disapproval of the move to remove him from the KPCC post, the party high command took the decision to bring in a new face ahead of the crucial elections in the state.
Sudhakaran has been made a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), in a bid to balance the group equations within the party unit in Kerala.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
