Congress Kerala unit president M.M. Hassan surprised reporters after the party’s latest political affairs committee meeting when he announced the agenda for the next meeting. “The next meeting would be day-long to discuss the party’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha election,” he said at the end of the press conference.
The meeting is scheduled this week in the party headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. The Congress has been shaken out of its usual lethargic mode by reports that the BJP and the CPM are already working on the polls two-and-half-years ahead of the dates. There are talks of a mid-term election. The Congress and the United Democratic Front would struggle to stay afloat if they falter one more time.
Prime minister Narendra Modi may be encouraged to go for early elections to the Lok Sabha if the BJP were able to continue its electoral performance in next year’s Karnataka, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls. After the demonetization shock, no one has any doubt that Modi is unpredictable. The best course of action in the scenario is to be prepared for anything.
The CPM has taken the cues. The party will wind up its three-day house visit campaign on Monday. The party has already picked leaders to helm the electoral campaign in each assembly constituency. Party workers are already combing through the voters’ list.
The BJP has also set in motion its machinery. The party leaders in charge of each Lok Sabha constituency are busy touring the local panchayats and compiling suggestions and feedback. State leaders including Kummanam Rajasekharan will go to the booth-level programs from August. Party president Amit Shah has given the workers three months to buck up in Kerala. He wants encouraging news as a birthday present when he visits Kerala next on October 22.
The buzz was not lost on Janata Dal (U), a Congress ally in Kerala. M.P. Veerendra Kumar and Varghese George demanded in Kozhikode on Sunday a “winnable” seat in Kozhikode district for the party. The party is not game for the Palakkad seat, which it is sure of losing like the last time. The party that drew a blank in the last assembly election is desperately searching for a lifeline.
Political circles are abuzz with talks of possible candidates to emerge in 2019. Most talked-about is perhaps the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency. The CPI may decide to field its young leader Kanhaiya Kumar to challenge sitting MP Shashi Tharoor. The BJP could add to the celebrity quotient by fielding Rajeev Chandrasekhar or Suresh Gopi.
The CPM has already asked Kollam district secretary K.N. Balagopal to prepare to fight sitting MP N.K. Premachandran. Ernakulam district secretary P. Rajeev may be chosen to fight K.V. Thomas.
Yet no seat could be as interesting as Kottayam, where sitting MP Jose K Mani is suddenly without support from erstwhile ally Congress. Stakes are high in Kottayam, where Mani’s choice of partners may tilt political fortunes.
The CPM has given out enough indications that the party is ready for an understanding with Mani, judging by the pat on the back received by the party’s district unit for creating a wedge between the Congress and the Kerala Congress and supporting Mani’s party man as the district panchayat president. The CPM is not sure about the relevance of partner CPI in the alliance. Mani could be a better partner in Kottayam, Alappuzha, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts, party leaders estimate. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan never lets go of an opportunity to rub off the CPI.
The Congress is also trying to catch up. The political affairs committee would discuss the strategies to improve relations with various social groups. A section of the party advocates for the need of luring away the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena from the BJP camp. The BDJS may play along because the affinity could at least give them leverage while bargaining with the BJP for eight of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.
The talks about the next Lok Sabha election come even before Muslim League leader P.K. Kunhalikutty is sworn in as a Member of Parliament. Kunhalikutty’s swearing-in is delayed for various reasons after his record by-election win from Malappuram. Kerala is also awaiting the Vengara assembly by-election to choose the successor-MLA to Kunhalikutty.