In politics, there are very few 'untouchables', says Ramesh Chennithala ahead of Maha poll results

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 22 With just hours left for the counting of votes to start to decide which political formation rules Maharashtra, AICC general secretary in charge of the state, Ramesh Chennithala said that in politics, there are very few ‘untouchables’.

Chennithala, a senior legislator and a former Kerala State Home Minister has been burning the midnight oil for several months after he was made Congress in-charge for Maharashtra. He is known for his astute political thinking, which has been largely instrumental in putting the Congress party on a strong foot in Maharashtra after the elections were announced.

In a brief chat with IANS over the phone from Mumbai, Chennithala said he is certainly pleased with how the past few months have paved the way for his party in Maharashtra.

“We were lagging behind and in a few months of working hard with all the leaders of our party and the alliance partners, I think, we are on a strong wicket and now let us wait for a few hours,” he added.

To a specific question on speculations that have surfaced that the Congress party might extend an olive branch to the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, Chennithala laughed and said, “In politics, there are very few untouchables.”

“To be honest, there has been no such discussion and remember this is politics and hence it is said, there are very few untouchables in politics,” said Chennithala, who had revolted against his mentor the legendary K. Karunakaran and floated a new faction when Karunakaran was in his prime.

After a while, Chennithala took over the faction of Karunakaran in 2000 which was often referred to as the Congress (I) faction while the faction led by two-time former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was known as the A faction in the Congress party.