Congress president Sonia Gandhi has deputed senior party leader Ahmed Patel to mediate between the warring Congress factions in Kerala led by Chief Minister A K Antony and former chief minister K Karunakaran.

Patel is in the Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram to attend a crucial meeting of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, scheduled for Monday evening

Patel's main task will be to pacify Karunakaran who has been criticising the Antony government of late.

Last week, Karunakaran called a meeting of 21 legislators loyal to him to prepare a report on the performance of the two-year-old Antony government.

The meeting dubbed the Antony government as 'a total failure' and demanded a change in leadership.

Upset by Karunakaran's open criticism, the Antony faction demanded the resignation of two Karunakaran loyalists - Health Minister P Sankaran and Electricity Minister Kadavoor Sivadasan.

Senior party leader Oommen Chandy demanded that both resign immediately because they are part of the Antony government, which the Karunakaran faction has termed as utter failure.

"There is no moral ground for the two ministers to continue after they themselves assessed the Antony government as a total failure. It seems they have acknowledged themselves as non-performers in the Antony cabinet," Chandy, who is also the convener of the ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front, told rediff.com.

"Instead of indulging in factional politics, it is time for Congress leaders to work for the development of Kerala," he added.

Incensed by Chandy's remarks, Karunakaran has said that Chandy has no right to demand the resignation of the ministers.

"It is for the chief minister to decide. Everybody in Kerala knows that the Antony government is a total failure. Why are some Congress leaders getting upset when the truth is being told?" Karunakaran asked.

Karunakaran's continuing and increasing open criticism of the Antony government has considerably angered the Congress high command.

Congress leaders said Gandhi has asked Patel to ensure the Karunakaran faction understands that if the inner party feud did not end, it would invite strict disciplinary action, chiefly against Karunakaran and his supporters, including his son and KPCC president K Muralidharan.

In April, the party had plunged into a major crisis when Karunakaran put up a rebel candidate - Kodoth Govindan Nair - in the Rajya Sabha elections, disregarding the high command's appeal.

Nair lost the elections, but the Karunakaran faction had managed to garner 26 votes.

The Congress high command had then considering some sort of action against Karunakaran and his supporters, but was prevented from doing so by Antony himself, who argued that expelling the senior leader would only harm the party in Kerala.

Congress leaders concede that Karunakaran's open revolt against the party high command was the result Gandhi's indulgence all these years.

"The manner in which Karunakaran and his faction leaders are harming the party unity in Kerala is unprecedented. He should be expelled from the Congress immediately," a senior Antony faction leader told rediff.com.