Resentment among a section in the NCP’s Kerala unit came to the fore today with the party’s former state president Cyriac John questioning the way the central and state leadership handled the open pro-Congress posturing of senior leader K Karunakaran.John, who stepped down to pave the way for Karunakaran’s son K Muraleedharan to become the NCP state president a year ago, came down heavily on the party leadership’s failure to take disciplinary action against Karunakaran.A former minister, John hinted that he was leaving the NCP as it had ceased to have “any relevance” as a democratic party. Muraleedharan’s statement yesterday that NCP would continue to seek Karunakaran’s blessings even if he left the party showed the depth to which the organisation had plummeted, John said at Kozhikode.Reacting to the development, Muraleedharan said John’s statement amounted to open challenge of the party’s central leadership and it would be brought to the attention of NCP president Sharad Pawar. “No one can remain in the party questioning Pawar’s leadership. If John is still in the party, disciplinary action would be recommended against him,” Muraleedharan said.After signalling his wish to be back in the Congress, Karunakaran had said he would not be able to be active in the NCP anymore.
