Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 9 (IANS): Congress leaders across the board in Kerala are waiting anxiously as the new list of office-bearers of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is likely to be out soon.

The new KPCC committee is expected to have 51 members, down from 100 during the previous terms. As a result, many leaders are anxious to find out who will be left out in the new list.

The party high command has already sprang three surprises, which have given heartbreaks to veterans like Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, who after several years of fighting against each other have now joined hands to fight the common 'enemy' - the high command which is now calling the shots.

The high command sprang the first surprise when it announced V.D. Satheesan as the Leader of Opposition, a post earlier held by Chennithala. Then came the second blow when K. Sudhakaran was appointed as the new state unit chief.

Then came the decisive blow when 14 district party presidents were chosen, leaving both Chandy and Chennithala fuming.

Former party president and veteran leader V.M. Sudheeran created a flutter when he quit the powerful Political Affairs Committee and also quit as an AICC member, expressing disgust in the manner in which Sudhakaran and Satheesan were functioning.

Sudhakaran told the media that the list is more or less ready and the final rounds of discussions are going on.

"It should be ready soon and I expect to get it finalised later in the day. An official announcement will be made on Sunday," said Sudhakaran.

AICC General Secretary in-charge of Kerala, Tariq Anwar, is the man engaged in fire fighting to passify disgruntled leaders like Chandy, Chennithala and Sudheeran, who all have their own handpicked men whom they want in the new team to be led by Sudhakaran.

Since the size of the new team is going to be around 50, the number of disgruntled leaders is likely to increase as more leaders are likely to be left out.