Kochi: The Congress in Kerala appears to have switched into correction mode soon after the meeting convened by the party's high command in Delhi. The mood of confession and correction was evident in two developments related to the party on Sunday.

One, Shashi Tharoor chose to amend his stance on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s claims on entrepreneurial growth in the state. Two, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran initiated a meeting with his predecessor, Mullappally Ramachandran. Congress insiders and observers feel that the developments reflect the messages conveyed to the state leadership by the party top brass at the meeting held on February 28 in Delhi. The long pending issue of disunity and lack of cooperation among the state leadership was addressed at the meeting, according to sources, and the need to project a face of unity was advised.

The Congress had found itself on the backfoot with Tharoor, a four-time MP and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, making back-to-back comments in which he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US president Donald Trump and the LDF government’s claims on the industrial growth in Kerala. The Delhi meeting came in the backdrop of the controversies triggered by Tharoor’s remarks as well as the reports of the rift within the state leaders. It was reported that top Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had urged state leaders to toe the party line on issues and refrain from making contradicting statements.

Tharoor, on Sunday, reversed his stand on the growth of MSME and startup sectors in the state, citing a report on The Times of India. The report based on government data revealed the contradictions in the government’s claim on industrial growth and the reality on the ground; the narrative his party leaders have been repeating every time the Left government makes its claims.

“Dismayed to see that the Kerala startup entrepreneurship story is not only what’s been reported. The only silver lining is that at least the GOK’s claims point to the right intentions. We need more MSME startups—and not just on paper. Kerala must just head this way!” Tharoor wrote on his X handle, sharing the ToI article.

KPCC president Sudhakaran welcomed Tharoor’s latest remarks, saying he has made his stand clear. Sudhakaran made the statements after his meeting with Mullappally in Kozhikode. Sudhakaran was appointed PCC president in 2021 after Mullappally was removed from the post following the Congress-led UDF’s drubbing in the state polls. The relationship between the two veterans has not been cordial since then, and Mullappally has by and large been staying away from party affairs. He had even skipped the recent Delhi meet.

On Sunday, Sudhakaran admitted that there was a lapse on his side in making use of Mullappally’s experience. He said there had been a communication gap, and he regretted it.

Mullappaly, in his response to the media on Sudhakaran’s gesture, said all the Congress workers in the state had received the message of unity from the central leadership. “There is no bigger message than that,” the former union minister of state for home affairs said.

Congress leaders, Onmanorama spoke to, credited the high command’s intervention for the developments. A young leader said, “The high command has given a strict message against leaders spoiling the party’s chances in Kerala, the only state where it has a higher chance of coming to power. The post-meeting developments show the leaders have taken the message seriously. I hope it sustains.”

“In the Delhi meeting, Rahul Gandhi had made it clear that the Congress leaders in the state should go hand in hand and should not do anything that disrespects the people’s wish to change the LDF government. The latest developments can only be seen as an immediate result of the high command intervention,” a Congress MP said.

Though he did not mention any incident, Congress veteran A K Antony puts it this way at a local party meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday: “(The high command told the leaders) Kerala is ripe for government change. And you should not spoil the atmosphere by quarrelling with each other. Everybody listened. The news we hear since yesterday are all good.”