Kochi: When Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge meet Congress leaders from Kerala in Delhi on Friday, it might look like one of those uneasy meetings between two worried teachers and a group of students whose board exams are nearing but are not prepared enough. The Congress high command has called the meeting to initiate discussions for preparing the party’s roadmap for the Kerala Assembly elections due next year and the local body polls to be held later this year.

Party president Kharge and former president Rahul Gandhi will be meeting the state leaders and MPs from the state. The meeting, what should have looked like a usual party exercise in ordinary times, has assumed more significance in the wake of the recent developments in the party’s state unit. It comes close on the heels of four-time MP and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Shashi Tharoor triggering yet another controversy, airing his concerns over the party’s chances in the next Assembly polls. Tharoor’s call for fixing the leadership and organisational lacks has been largely interpreted as an expression of his chief ministerial ambition and the displeasure over the state leadership. Tharoor’s remarks have added to the perceived leadership crisis to which each top leader in Kerala has contributed his share in the past few years. The foremost agenda of the meeting in Delhi will be to address the leadership concerns and set the house in order.

Controversies over alleged chief ministerial claims and public display of displeasure among leaders have put the Kerala unit in the backfoot on multiple occasions in the recent past. The party found itself in embarrassing situations with leaders’ behaviour even as the ruling CPM has been working hard to tide over the anti-incumbency sentiments.

While the CPM’s organisational machinery seems to be intact despite the setbacks in the Lok Sabha election and the Assembly bypolls, the Congress’s organisational woes seem to be unending. From K Sudhakaran’s health to V D Satheesan’s style of functioning to Ramesh Chennithala’s disappointment to Tharoor’s confusion, the list of Congress’ Kerala problems is pretty long.

Sudhakaran and his unfinished plans
Kannur MP Sudhakaran was appointed Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president in 2021 after the party’s shock defeat in the post-COVID Assembly polls. The poll drubbing forced the party to repackage itself with an aggressive Sudhakaran at the helm of the state unit and Satheesan as the Opposition leader. Though Sudhakaran, with his track record of taking the CPM head on in its Kannur fort, energised the party cadre in his initial months, he has not been able to keep the momentum. His ambitious plans to strengthen the party at the grassroots with the introduction of Congress Unit Committees (CUC) also failed to take off beyond initial efforts. Party reorganisation at the lower level remained delayed, in keeping with the Congress tradition though Sudhakaran was expected to do it better. His rift with Satheesan which came out in public on multiple occasions also put the party in a fix. His critics and even those who claim to be his supporters say his health issues have prevented him from carrying out his responsibilities efficiently.

Satheesan and his two images
The party’s decision to pick five-time Paravur MLA Satheesan to lead the party in the Assembly, instead of his predecessor Ramesh Chennithala, proved to be a right move as the Opposition managed to gain an upper hand on the floor on several issues. His debating skills proved vital in gaining perception points for the party. His election management skills were also evident during the Assembly bypolls and Lok Sabha elections. Still, he managed to earn his enemies within and outside the party with his style of functioning. His public snubbing of Sudhakaran during the Puthuppally bypoll press meet dented his image and it triggered a perception crisis for him. Satheesan has been facing allegations of one-upmanship within the organisation by his rivals, many of them being ‘group managers’ during Oommen Chandy-Ramesh Chennithala era of Congress.

Chennithala’s desperation
The senior-most leader of the Congress in Kerala has been feeling sidelined in the party since the ascension of Satheesan as the Opposition leader. The weakening of the ‘I’ faction, which he headed, while Oommen Chandy led the ‘A’ group, also left him dejected. He managed to get back a space in the mainstream of late regaining the support of community leaders like NSS’s G Sukumaran Nair and SNDP’s Vellappally Nateshan, both critics of Satheesan. Though the game helped the pragmatic politician in Chennithala gain some lost prominence, it triggered a row over the CM aspirants in Kerala, putting the party in trouble.

Tharoor’s style of demoralising
The Thiruvananthapuram MP added to the party’s crisis with his comments in his own style. First, he wrote an article praising the Left government’s pro-business push, and then he gave a detailed interview in which he declared the Congress-led UDF could be pushed to the Opposition benches for a third term if corrections were not done. Whatever be his intention, the comments ended up damaging the morale of the party workers.

Now that the leaders have revealed to the party and the public what their strengths and weaknesses are, the national leadership’s challenge will be to convince them about their roles in taking forward the organisation to its common goal of winning elections.