Thiruvananthapuram: The state leadership of the Congress came under severe attack at the political affairs committee meeting with several members holding the inept organizational machinery responsible for the defeat in the local body polls.

V D Satheeshan, MLA, said the present leadership of the party was not in tune with the times. He took a dig at the leadership saying that you cannot get votes just by holding press conferences on a daily basis!

"Will the leadership which is coming out with data and other justifications be able to convince even the bloc committee where KPCC headquarters is located? Will the leadership at least now admit that the party has lost? If the LDF won because of kit distribution how is it that the UDF emerged victorious in some districts?," Satheeshan wondered.

The collective emotion at the meeting was that there is no point covering up the embarrassing defeat by drawing a comparison with 2015 election results. Some openly told the leadership not to fool them by displaying the previous data.

P C Chacko, K Muraleedharan, K Sudhakaran, P J Kurien, Shanimol Usman, Benny Behanan and P C Vishnunath too launched a scathing attack on the leadership at the meeting held on Thursday. All agreed that the party organizational machinery failed to help the candidates in the local body polls. Many asked as to what responsibilities were entrusted with the office-bearers of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

K Sudhakaran, MP, called for a reshuffle from top to bottom. All those who are not performing should be removed from their positions. “We need to end the process wherein a few leaders take decisions in a closed room. Those who aspire to become chief ministers and ministers should realise that the organisation is weak,” he noted.

P J Kurien alleged that in the name of election work what actually took place was just group politics. All shared the opinion that there were lapses in candidate selection. The decision to make winnability the main criteria for candidate selection was thrown to the winds.

The tie-up with the Welfare Party also came under scrutiny.

Shanimol Usman, MLA, became emotional when she asked "Did the KPCC president call me even once when I was in hospital for a month undergoing treatment for Covid? She alleged that in the midst of group-wise seat distribution, the leadership forgot about organizational matters."

P C Chacko sought to know if enough discussions were being held in the party.

Some of the members raised the issue of Rajya Sabha seats which were allotted to Jose K Mani and late M P Veerendrakumar without proper discussions in the party. Both had left the UDF subsequently.

Vishnunath wanted to know what did the Congress do in an election in which CPM and BJP used social media platforms in a very effective manner. "Were the candidates given any financial assistance? "Were even printed posters given to them? He asked.

"The leadership of the party is the problem. Collective responsibility has been lost," Rajmohan Unnithan, another MP, said. "It made poll alliances by disregarding cherished values. The situation now is that only those who praise the leadership thrive in the party. I will say what I have to say even if that means I will be forced to resign as an MP or be expelled from the party.”

The three top leaders -- Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Mullapally Ramachandran -- tried to convince the PAC members saying that the party had not suffered huge setbacks and it will be able to spring back.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said in Delhi that while mistakes need to be corrected, this was not the time to change the leadership. 

DCCs under watch

There are covert and overt allegations against the district leaderships of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Kozhikode and Kasaragod. 

Although V K Sreekandan (Palakkad), IC Balakrishnan (Wayanad) and TJ Vinod (Ernakulam) had offered to step down as DCC chiefs after they were elected as Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly, replacements could not be found for them. 

The KPCC is considering appointing new presidents in these districts as well as in other districts which are lagging at the organisational level. 

Two-day brainstorming for Congress 

The political affairs committee decided to convene a two-day comprehensive meeting of the extended leadership on January 7 and 8 to review the electoral defeat at length. An emergency meeting of KPCC officer-bearers will be held on Saturday. The district in-charge of the organization has been asked to submit a detailed report on the elections.

The party will entrust responsibilities for the 140 assembly segments to main leaders and other tasks with the secretaries.

UDF meet on Saturday

Meanwhile, a meeting of the UDF leadership will be held on Saturday at 3 pm at the Cantonment House in the Kerala capital to assess the local body election results. The meeting is being held against the backdrop of rising unrest in the Front and criticism against the Congress.