New DCC presidents: Final list by next week

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The selection process of the new district Congress committee presidents will enter the last phase with AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik reaching here in the first week of November for final talks.
Lists of names suggested by the party groups and members of the political affairs committee have already reached the high command. But the KPCC had not been able to reach a consensus as there are more than one candidate for each post.
Senior leader A K Antony who is in Thiruvananthapuram will be appraising the high command of the popular sentiments in each district before the list is finalized.
It is learnt that other than Wayanad and Thrissur, both the 'A' and 'I' groups have reached a consensus on sharing the districts. But there has been no agreement on the names suggested by each of the groups. Hence, the opinion of KPCC president V M Sudheeran will play a major role in the making of the final list.
Similarly, leaders like K Muraleedharan and V D Satheesan have made it clear that if the groups are coming out with young and fresh faces for the DCC president posts, then they would be supporting them.
Sources said T Sarathchandra Prasad is lobbying for the post in Thiruvananthapuram. Even though former district panchayat president Ramani P Nair is eyeing the post, a section of 'I' group led by former minister V S Sivakumar is learnt to have come out against her.
In Kollam, the names of Mahila Congress president Bindhu Krishna and trusted Oommen Chandy lieutenant P C Vishnunath are being considered. Babu George, the district panchayat president, is the frontrunner in Pathanamthitta and 'I' group leader and former Youth Congress president M Liju is being considered in Alappuzha. Chandy will have the finals say in Kottayam and Lathika Subhash is likely to get the nod here.
Dean Kuriakose is likely to become the president in Idukki and T J Vinod, the deputy mayor is the front runner for the post in Ernakulam. In Kozhikode 'A' group nominee T Siddique is the frontrunner. Satheeshan Pacheny is likely to head the party in Kannur and K Neelakandan, the KPCC secretary, in Kasaragod.