Kochi: With race heating up for electing the Kerala PCC chief, Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s Facebook page is being used to get people’s feedback to zero in on the right candidate.

Former Kerala Students Union President Sudeep James is conducting the survey through the visitors’ page to select between firebrand leader K Sudhakaran and soft-spoken former Union Minister Mullappally Ramachandran.

A supporter of Sudhakaran, James has fixed June 15 midnight as the deadline for the survey opened two days back. Over 4,600 people have voted.

There are over 1,000 comments suggesting the names, including that of K Muralidharan and V D Satheesan among others.

Former Union Minister Mullappally Ramachandran’s name flashed in media as party’s choice for the post. Posters appeared saying nominating him as president was like plugging a sinking ship in Congress office in Thiruvananthapuram.

Stop the practice of nominating leaders who are only interested in positions and have no public support, it said.

The present president is M M Hassan was appointed on an interim basis, before whom it was V M Sudheeran who quit after falling out with Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and newly appointed AICC General Secretary Oommen Chandy due to his strict way of functioning, including seeking closure of bars in the State.

Hassan was made interim president after Sudheeran vacated the post. The shocking defeat of Congress in Chengannur Assembly byelection made Hassan the scapegoat and party leaders sought his ouster.

With party leaders engaged in a war of words over Congress sacrificing its Rajya Sabha seat and one Lok Sabha seat to Kerala Congress (Mani), the party is struggling to bring around the sulking leaders and arrive at a unanimity in selecting the KPCC president.