The seeds of agitations and mass campaigns that eventually led to the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) downfall were not sown by any opposition parties, but it was social crusader Anna Hazare who initiated the country-wide anti-corruption campaigns that spelt doom for the Congress-led alliance.
Hazare planted the saplings, but ultimately it was Narendra Modi, backed by a well-oiled party machinery, who reaped a rich harvest in the elections that followed.
Incidentally, the Congress in Kerala has lessons to learn from that tragic experience.
Despite the 91-41 equation in the House, the Congress-led UDF has found its foothold in the assembly. But there is ample scope to go the extra mile to be a strong and constructive opposition because the BJP looks determined to gain political mileage from the events that expose the LDF government.
The Congress needs to put in great efforts to revamp its party organization to give the party a chance to come out triumphant in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The appointment of DCC presidents is a big step towards recovering and reviving its force and restoring the fortunes of the party.
Will the meeting, scheduled for November 2, the day after the 60th anniversary of the formation of Kerala, announce the dawn of a new era in the state unit of the party?
This question has been discussed in the party circles and there is definitely a valid reason for that.
During his separate meetings with Oommen Chandy, V. M. Sudheeran, and Ramesh Chennithala, All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi had put forth a four-point charter of demands to revive the party in the State. They were: a. give priority to youngsters and those below the age of 60 b. bring in energetic leaders to lead the party who can take on the CPM and the BJP c. track record and image should be the sole criterion for selection of candidates and d. give opportunities to women.
If the State leadership comply with these instructions and prepare a list of 14 eligible persons, the high command will definitely approve the proposal. On the other hand, if the factional feud rears its ugly head to squeeze incompetent candidates into the list in place of qualified ones, the high command will be forced to take corrective measures. AICC secretary Deepak Babaria is being assigned with the task of ‘parallel data collection’ with that purpose alone.
Also, this could be the reason why Oommen Chandy, Chennithala and Sudheeran, who had fought over the restructuring proposal earlier, have now decided to put aside differences and move in the same direction.
When the former chief minister, opposition leader and the KPCC president join hands and proposes a list in complete agreement, it will not be easy for the high command to ignore it.
However, it is important that these three should be fully convinced of the eligibility of the people they propose. Such a well-intended move allowing able and popular leaders to rise from within will definitely augur well for the Congress and help it evolve into a modern political party.
Nevertheless, the high command is not totally against the existence of factions in the party. But the need of the hour is actions and decisions in the best interest of the party to help it sustain in the fast changing political landscape.
It is in this context the names of P. C. Vishnunath, T. Siddique, T. N. Prathapan, M. Liju, V. K. Sreekandan, and I. C. Balakrishnan gain prominence. Undoubtedly, such experiments with young leaders would go a long way in boosting the party’s popularity among masses. Even, there is a section of leaders who believe the party should follow the CPM model of appointing popular faces as district secretaries while picking the DCC presidents.
It is more or less confirmed that one among Lathika Subhash, Padmaja Venugopal, Ramani P. Nair, and Bindu Krishna would be elevated to the district leadership as a successor to Saraswathi Kunjukrishnan. Such a move will also force the CPM to consider women as district secretaries.
At present, the 14 district committees are shared between the A and I groups. So, minor changes are expected in this equation.
V. M. Sudheeran is expected to stick to his ploy of identifying popular leaders from two main factions and proposing them as his nominees in a bid bring them into his camp. On the other hand, the A group is aware of the need to prevent the I group from bolstering the upper hand it gained through the elevation of Ramesh Chennithala as the opposition leader.
To those who advise him to follow the footsteps of V. S. Achuthanandan by creating his own space in the party, Chandy is quick to point out that he does not believe in the theory of ‘false prestige’ to survive in the party. The unsolicited support he extended to the agitation against the government on the self-financing college issue, in fact, came as a surprise to Chennithala.
However, Chennithala and Sudheeran feel that it was the casual attitude of Chandy which led to the adverse Bengaluru court verdict against him.
It is time for the trio to cast aside their differences and focus on completing the restructuring process successfully.
Though Rahul Gandhi claims that the responsibility of smooth conduct of the organization revamp has been entrusted with Mukul Wasnik, A. K. Antony’s sudden reentry into the state politics definitely is not a coincidence.
Moreover, he cannot just keep himself away when the party faces a structural dilemma on several fronts.