The two-day Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leadership meeting in Wayanad concluded on Wednesday with a renewed determination to assess and revamp the party’s game plan in tune with the State’s political landscape.
The choice of Wayanad as the venue was strategic, following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as a Lok Sabha member from the constituency and to accommodate State Congress leaders who campaigned for the Assembly elections in neighbouring Karnataka.
Factional leaders, party sources said, albeit reluctantly, agreed to establish a consensus for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections next year.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran highlighted the bitter power struggles hindering party reorganisation and emphasised regaining the lost accountability of the party.
The presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretaries Tariq Anwar and K.C. Venugopal helped steer State leaders to declare the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the Congress’ main political adversary.
However, the conclave treaded cautiously around the growing rift between Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, who has been striving to maintain his relevance since his removal as Opposition Leader following the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections. According to party sources, Mr. Chennithala is now attempting to stage a comeback and return to national politics.
The meeting also saw K. Muraleedharan and T.N. Prathapan, both MPs, initially announcing they would not contest the polls. However, they later retracted this when the AICC leaders mollified them. The absence of some senior leaders, including former KPCC presidents Mullappally Ramachandran, V.M. Sudheeran, and Shashi Tharoor, MP, cast a shadow over the event, the sources said.
As the meeting tackled internal conflicts, it also addressed grassroots-level engagement and alliance-building. Nevertheless, many leaders pointed out that the Congress party failed to secure new allies or to gain enough ground support to challenge the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
As the architect of the proposed semi-cadre system for the party, Mr. Sudhakaran enlightened the leaders on the need to strengthen and empower booth-level committees. Major decisions included completing the party’s reconstitution process by May 30, finalising the booth committees by June 30, enhancing social media networks, and establishing cultural organisations.
However, a sceptical leader noted that it remained to be seen whether these decisions will be implemented smoothly in the Congress party.
