Amid KPCC rejig talk, Church makes pitch for Sunny Joseph as president

Kodikkunnil, Roji M John, Adoor Prakash, Anto Antony, M Liju among other names doing rounds

- Abhilash Chandran @Kottayam

Amid speculation of a change of guard at the KPCC, the Catholic Church is demanding that its nominee be made the next state president of the Congress. According to sources, the Church is pitching for former Kannur DCC chief and Peravoor MLA Sunny Joseph.

With less than a year remaining for local body elections, followed by the assembly election in another three months, there is a growing demand for a top-to-toe revamp in the party.

However, a total revamp appears to be a vexed issue for the Congress, taking into account the power dynamics within the party and the need for maintaining communal balance in its organisational structure.

The Christian community, especially the Catholic Church, is dissatisfied with what it sees as inadequate representation in the Congress leadership, especially after the era of A K Antony and Oommen Chandy. The Church had aired its concerns on multiple occasions.

Though the Church leadership has refused to disclose the name of its nominee for KPCC chief, reports suggest that it is backing Sunny Joseph. Sunny, who maintains a good rapport with the Church hierarchy, is also in the good books of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan. He is currently the parliamentary party secretary of the Congress in the assembly. It is learnt that Joseph, who actively intervened on issues affecting the community, has garnered the support of almost all Catholic bishops.