After its dismal performance in the last election, the Congress in Kerala is churning
After its dismal performance in the last election, the Congress in Kerala is churning
After the Congress’s dismal performance in the Kerala Assembly elections last year, when it secured just 21 out of 140 seats, the party’s central leadership decided to replace Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Mullappally Ramachandran, who was deemed incompetent. used to go. and Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, who was accused of running with rabbits and hunting with hounds.
But now things have changed for the party, Kannur MP K. Sudhakaran at the helm of the KPCC and VD Satheesan as the Leader of the Opposition. The new leaders are able to consolidate rank and file to an extent and put in place a formidable organizational set-up.
The organizational capabilities of the Congress were visible during the statewide protests launched against the Silverline rail project. The political acumen of the new leadership was reflected in the decision to field two women for key positions: JB Mather for the winnable Rajya Sabha seat and Uma Thomas for the Trikkakara Assembly seat, which fell vacant after the death of her husband PT Thomas. Was. Despite the political and organizational strength of the CPI(M), which was on full display during the Trikkakara bypoll, the Congress won by a record margin. The victory not only gave the party a psychological boost, but also strengthened the hold of the Sudhakaran-Sathisan duo in the Kerala unit.
Perhaps this victory has prompted the two to consistently demand the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has been accused of gold smuggling and money laundering, one of the main accused in the gold smuggling scandal that had earlier The Pinarayi regime was shaken. ,
But questions are also being raised on the confrontational strategies adopted by the Congress leaders. Political observers saw the unprecedented act of three Youth Congress workers boarding a domestic plane carrying Mr Vijayan and raising slogans as a serious misadventure. The CPI(M)-led LDF government retaliated to the incident by accusing three Youth Congress workers of attempt to murder. There is some irony in the CPI(M)’s outrage over the plane incident. In 2013, the then Congress chief minister Oommen Chandy suffered injuries when some protesters, who were part of the CPI(M) agitation over the solar scam, pelted stones at his car.
Still, a section of the old-timers in the Congress seems to have reversed the strategy and given the LDF an advantage, while an in-flight video shows LDF convener EP Jayarajan pushing two Youth Congress workers, who have sided with the Chief Minister. Slogans were raised against , On the other hand, most of the rank and file, especially the younger members, feel that the state leadership is revitalizing the party.
Unlike in the past, the Congress leadership has no intention of simply giving up on the issue. Congress MP Hibi Eden sought to know from the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation why an FIR was not registered against Mr. Jayarajan. Mr Satisan wrote a letter to the Associate Vice President of IndiGo Airlines seeking action against the airline’s airport manager for submitting a “fake and frivolous” report on the protest to the local police station.
With no elections in the near future, the state Congress is witnessing the same organizational churn as before. While the Congress was slowly trying to gain strength, the BJP, which had always claimed that it was really The opposition stands as another opposition party in opposition to Mr. Vijayan. The second major goal of both would be to re-establish Congress hegemony within the UDF.
biju.govind@thehindu.co.in