Thiruvananthapuram: A day after announcing most of its candidates for the Kerala Assembly Election, Congress is faced with a rebellion by Lathika Subash in the Ettumanoor constituency in Kottayam district. The prospects of the United Democratic Front candidate, Prince Lukose of the Kerala Congress (Joseph) faction, here could be jeopardized if Lathika is adamant on contesting as an Independent candidate as threatened by her soon after the Congress leadership ignored her for candidature.
On Sunday evening a disillusioned Lathika had tonsured her head before the state headquarters of the Congress as it became evident that she has not been selected as a party candidate for the April 6 state election. Her emotional, angry response even hit the headlines nationwide and embarrassed the party which had issued a refreshing candidate list a little time before her protest.
She also resigned as the president of the Mahila Congress, women's outfit of the party.
Congress leaders sympathised with her, but stood their ground about their candidate choices, but a few demanded disciplinary action.
Senior leader Ramesh Chennithala is making a bid to conciliate Lathika, though sources say she is unlikely to budge.
"Only one among the deserving could be chosen to contest. Those who couldn't make it to candidate list will get opportunities in the party later," Chennithala said, while adding that the candidate list reflects the changing orientation of the party.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy clarified that Lathika was not promised any seat to contest.
The Left Democratic Front candidate in Ettumanoor, V N Vasavan, may find the going easy if Lathika files the nomination and launches a serious campaign. Vasavan is the district chief of the CPM.
The leaders of Kerala Congress (Joseph), including its candidate Prince Lukose, met her shortly before Monday noon.
Significance of the list
A generational change is the highlight of the list of 86 Congress candidates released by KPCC President Mullappally Ramachandran in New Delhi the other day
Of the 86 contesters nominated so far, 46 are aged below 50. Only three are above 70.
Lathika is 58 years old and had contested unsuccessfully against former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan in a state poll from the Malampuzha seat.
Others sporadic protests were staged by Congress activists in some parts of the state as soon as the Congress candidate list was out. They point to the reluctance of a section of the party followers and office-bearers to accept the generational change attempted in the organisation by weeding out many veterans and also-rans.
The decision to effect a drastic change in the candidate profile was taken by national leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi three months ago. He had then warned the State leadership against sharing seats based on factional
considerations. The leaders were also told to include fresh faces and to deviate from traditional methods in the selection of candidates.
Gandhi had further clarified that a list without fresh faces would not be accepted. State leaders agreed to the suggestions.
On their return from the national capital, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala sought the views of young party MLAs. Setting aside group interests and affiliations, the leaders drew up a list of winnable and young candidates after meeting the MLAs.
The national leadership had a say in the decision-making process though AICC general secretaries K C Venugopal and Tariq Anwar, who camped in Kerala and oversaw the candidate-selection process. After considering the views of three AICC secretaries, the High Command made a list of probables for the assembly polls.
The leaders accepted the fact that young faces could boost the party’s fortunes at the elections, and for the first time, fresh faces comprised almost half of the candidates. Those who had registered emphatic wins in the local body polls were promoted, considering their popularity at the local level.
All the 45 picks under-50 candidates are graduates; two have PhDs. Two of the candidates are medical practitioners.
Both the groups have about 40 candidates each in the fray. However, protests over lesser representation for women have left the leadership a worried lot.
Former minister K Babu managed to get the party ticket for Tripunithura despite conflicting views on fielding him as a candidate.
The screening committee had dropped Sajeev Joseph in Irikkur in 2011 and 2016, and this was considered while nominating him.
Except former minister K C Joseph, who represented Irikkur in the outgoing Assembly, all other sitting MLAs are in the fray.
K M Abhijith, seeking the mandate from Kozhikode North, is the baby in the list of candidates. He is 26.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, at 77, is the senior-most candidate.
