After talks with central leaders in New Delhi failed to bring an end to the crisis in the Congress in Kerala, senior party leader K Karunakaran returned to Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday and is expected to chart out the faction's future course after consultations with his camp followers.

With the high command reportedly rejecting his patch-up proposals like divesting Chief Minister A K Antony of the home portfolio and entrusting finance to a new entrant, Karunakaran refused to stay back in Delhi for talks with the three-member All India Congress Committee team led by Pranab Mukherjee, entrusted with the task of tackling the crisis in the party's Kerala unit.

According to Karunakaran camp sources, a convention scheduled on January 28 will work out the faction's future strategy

.Karunakaran had reportedly agreed to put on hold his demand Anthony's removal as chief minister till after Lok Sabha elections if his patch-up formula was accepted.

Antony's supporters had taken a strong position against accepting Karunakaran faction's "pressure tactics".