Thiruvananthapuram, Tuesday 26 Nanuary 2009: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) executive, to meet here on Wednesday, will find it difficult to arrive at a consensus on readmitting former party leader K. Muraleedharan.

This will be the second time that the executive committee is taking up the leader’s re-entry after pressure from various quarters including senior leader K. Karunakaran.

The former KPCC president has been waiting to get the opening ever since he abandoned the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) a few months ago. But the Congress leadership has been reportedly stalling a decision on Muraleedharan’s entry.

The Congress high command and the State leadership have been discussing the issue, keeping Muraleedharan on tenterhooks and prompting Karunakaran to write time and again to KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala seeking a discussion by the party executive.

The high command has now put the onus on the State leadership to arrive at decision. Congress Working Committee member and Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who is reportedly in favour of Muraleedharan’s return, has made it clear that a consensus in the KPCC is essential. He has reportedly advised Muraleedharan to observe restraint in his statements and wait till such a consensus emerges. However, Karunakaran appears to be in a hurry to force a decision.

Voices supporting Muraleedharan’s re-entry, in the previous KPCC executive committee meeting, could not emerge as a major campaign point with the leaders being reluctant to go beyond making general statements. And those who did go beyond generalities did so only to add to the discomfiture of the party leadership.

In the wake of KPCC working committee meet to be held tomorrow, veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran held a crucial closed door meet with KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala today.

Though the deliberation of the talks were not divulged, Ramesh Chennithala who came out after the meet told pressmen that, he was here after the senior leader expressed desire to meet him and Oommen Chandy. Though the later was not present.