Rumblings of infighting appeared to grow louder in the Congress on Saturday even as it commenced a soul searching process to make sense of the party’s poor showing in the local body polls.
Leaders continued to the play the blame game on the eve of Tariq Anwar's arrival, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Kerala. Mr. Anwar will be here on Sunday to take stock of the party’s shortcomings and initiate corrective action to make the organisation fighting fit in the run-up to the Assembly elections in mid-2021.
He arrives against the backdrop of reports that V. S.Sivakumar, MLA, has moved the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) against the move to foist the party’s dismal performance in Thiruvananthapuram on his shoulders. He has alleged that some organisational insiders had accused him of working to the advantage of political opponents.
Adoor Prakash, MP, blamed group satraps for the party’s lousy show. He said they had sacrificed winnable candidates on the altar of clannish group politics. Both leaders did not mention any person by name.
Mr. Anwar is scheduled to meet leaders individually and collectively, among them members of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the KPCC and then hear MLAs, MPs, and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents.
Systemic weaknesses
The AICC was reportedly disinclined to make any ‘knee-jerk’ leadership change in the KPCC. However, a party insider signalled that leaders would face some measure of reckoning for the ‘flailing’ campaign.
He said the AICC was ill-disposed to ascribing the failure to any one leader or faction. Instead, it wanted Congress to address systemic weaknesses.
The meeting might also lay the template for future candidature selection, emphasising youth and winnability factor. Rebuilding bridges with social forums, formulating a development and social welfare-oriented election manifesto, raising election funds, early announcement of candidates, and ironing out group differences are on the agenda.
The party has to manage a resurgent Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) asking for more seats and a weakened Kerala Congress (Joseph) and other alliance partners’ demands. Congress has to ensure that the anti-incumbency factor would benefit the United Democratic Front (UDF) and not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by striking tactical alliances.
