Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leaders Margaret Alva and R L Bhatiya are scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Jun 9, 2004) to study the grim inner strife in Congress in Kerala, which has turned murkier with last week's clash at the venue of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) executive convened to discuss the party's washout in the Lok Sabha polls.

According to Congress sources, Alva and Bhatia are expected to interact with KPCC office-bearers, MLAs and leaders of feeder organisation to form a clear picture of the depth to which the party had plummeted in the State.

The team would appraise their assessment of the situation to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, who is expected to take remedial measures to re-equip the party to face the Assembly polls barely two years away, the sources said.

The party central leadership had taken a serious view of the situation in the State where petty rivalries and wrangling had crossed all the limits even after the party failing to win even a single seat to the Lok Sabha polls, sources said.

The June 2 clash, in which two former KPCC general secretaries were injured, is widely seen to have taken the party's image to its all time low.

While there is widespread disenchantment among the Congress rank and file across the state over the ugly factional game played out by leaders, some of the partners of the ruling UDF (United Democratic Freedom) had also voiced concern about the state of affairs.