Muraleedharan, Mullappally front-runners to head Congress in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, July 7: With the new chief of the Congress' Kerala unit set to be named soon, sources in the know of things say veteran leader K. Karunakaran's son K. Muraleedharan and senior leader Mullappally Ramachandran are among the front-runners.
"These two names (Muraleedharan and Ramachandran) have been zeroed in on and the announcement could well be made very soon.
"Today a practice that has met with some success is the appointment of a President and a Working President in states. May be these two leaders could well be nominated for these two posts," a senior party leader who did not want to be identified told IANS on Saturday.
After V.M. Sudheeran quit as President in a jiffy last year, M.M. Hassan was first asked to officiate and then was given the post till the party high command zeroed in on a suitable candidate.
The Congress' Kerala unit was for several decades deeply divided between Karunakaran and former Defence Minister A.K. Antony and an unwritten practice was that when Karunakaran was Chief Minister, the post of the state chief was given to the Antony faction and vice versa.
In 2001, when Antony took over as Chief Minister, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai moved out to accommodate Muraleedharan as the party president.
But after 2004, things changed with Oommen Chandy taking over from Antony and Ramesh Chennithala becoming the president and since then it was these two leaders who head the two major factions in the party.
Things, however, changed when the party high command surprised everyone by nominating Sudheeran as the new president in 2014, much to the displeasure of the two factions. Many in the party believed this was a wrong move and the relation between Sudheeran and Chandy worsened and is also held to be a cause in the party's defeat in the 2016 assembly polls.
After Rahul Gandhi took over as Congress President, he tried to end the power of group leaders here, but his moves met strong resistance as both Chandy and Chennithala strongly opposed it.
According to a senior party leader, Gandhi appears to have been convinced by these two state leaders that yet another experiment could be disastrous for the party.
Of the present probables, while Muraleedharan is acceptable to both Chandy and Chennithala and also enjoys a sizeable following, Ramachandran has the full blessings of the party high command, even though he does not enjoy much of a support either among the leadership of the party here, nor the cadres.
"Well, in our party you never know, just like Sudheeran who was in political wilderness was made the party chief in 2014, there could be a dark horse too and one such leader is K. Sudhakaran," said the senior leader.
He however warned any wrong move would impact the party's future in the state.
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B'luru: "Least priority, shifted late," says brother of patient who died in Ramaiah hospital fire
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Bengaluru: Hours after a fire broke out at the Critical Care Unit (CCU) of the MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital on New BEL Road on Thursday, a 34-year-old patient, Sujay Sujathan Panicker, tragically passed away. His family has accused the hospital authorities of negligence, which they claim led to his death.
The fire at Ramaiah Memorial Hospital is believed to have been caused by a short circuit. Initial reports suggested that there were no casualties in the incident.
Sujay, originally from Kollam in Kerala, had been residing in Bengaluru with his family since 2004. He was undergoing treatment for pneumonia, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), and H1N1 since September 1 at the hospital.
Sujay's wife and father released a video accusing the hospital of negligence. In the video, his wife, Rohini Jayan, alleged that the hospital authorities took no action against those responsible for the fire.
Sujay’s brother, Sujin Sujathan Panicker, speaking to Vartha Bharathi, detailed the family’s ordeal. He said that despite his sister-in-law requesting assistance during the chaos, the hospital staff pushed her away, assuring her that all patients had been safely evacuated to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU). However, Sujin claims that his sister-in-law did not see Sujay being shifted.
He further stated, “Sometime later, when a doctor arrived, she (Rohini) inquired about Sujay. It was only after the doctor questioned the staff that they rushed to evacuate him.”
Sujin added that by the time his brother was evacuated, 50 minutes had already passed since the fire broke out. "He was still inside, while all the other patients were taken out first. He was admitted to the hospital with a respiratory illness, yet he was given the least priority during the chaos. He was the last one to be evacuated."
He also claimed that Rohini had already noticed that Sujay’s condition had deteriorated and believed he had passed away, though the hospital authorities did not officially declare his death.
Sujin further stated that the hospital authorities called him and his father to the board room at the 8th floor of the hospital, where senior executives and doctors who had treated Sujay were present “During the interaction they (hospital authorities) claimed that Sujay was still alive and that his condition had worsened amid the smoke and that his chances of survival were less, which was not true.”
"Despite staff being present to evacuate my brother, they remained negligent. The fire broke out at 1:00 p.m., so why did it take 50 minutes to get him out? He was in a corner bed in the CCU, and it seemed they either overlooked the room or ignored it. Even after repeated requests, it took them 50 minutes to evacuate him," Sujin added.
Sujin also expressed concerns that the hospital authorities might attempt to influence the investigation. "They can influence anyone—any hospital, any report."
At the time of the interview, Sujin stated that neither anyone from the government nor from the health department had contacted the family.
A complaint has been filed in connection with the incident at the Sadashivanagar police station. "The statements of the family members have been recorded, and an investigation into the matter is underway. An FIR has been lodged under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Section 106 (causing death due to negligence)," said Sadashivanagar police station Sub-Inspector.
Meanwhile, officials from Ramaiah Memorial Hospital were unavailable for comment.
