Kerala Congress president K. Sudhakaran has binned a circular issued by party colleague and leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan on the appointment of delimitation panels ahead of the local body polls after many office-bearers expressed displeasure at Satheesan stepping into the party chief’s domain.

In an emergent online meeting of the state office-bearers held late on Thursday, Sudhakaran too expressed his displeasure at Satheesan’s circular and cancelled it using his powers as the state party president.

Party sources said that the circular was brought to Sudhakaran’s notice by some state functionaries who, despite their own differences with the president, came out in his support since Satheesan was overstepping his boundaries.

“The office-bearers, including general secretaries, expressed strong resentment at Satheesan’s circular since such matters are purely in the domain of the president,” a former minister and senior leader told The Telegraph on Friday.

“Many of us are unhappy with Sudhakaran’s style of functioning. He is known to ride roughshod over senior party leaders. But that doesn’t mean Satheesan can override the president in issuing a circular about party matters,” he added.

Sudhakaran came out with his own detailed circular after the meeting and urged Congress leaders at all levels to actively work to strengthen the party ahead of the local body polls next year.

But Sudhakaran on Friday told reporters that criticism is normal in any democratic setup. “There will be criticism in any democratic setup and there will be issues in a political party. But I know how to handle interferences.”

He, however, added that “there are no issues between me and Satheesan”.