Oommen Chandy set for comeback in Kerala

Religious factors, popularity make veteran leader a front runner for state Congress president

At a time when the Congress is facing a troubled time across the country, is the party’s Kerala wing set to witness the comeback of its most popular leader in the state? The race for the state party unit chief’s post has heated up amid the buzz that former chief minister Oommen Chandy is one of the front runners.

 

According to political analysts, the party needs a booster dose after a bitter divorce with the Kerala Congress (M), which was part of the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress. The K M Mani-led Kerala Congress (M) won six seats in the 2016 Assembly elections and is a force to reckon with in five districts — Ernakulam, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Thrissur — which are considered traditional strongholds of the UDF.

 

“The only big party left in the UDF other than the Congress is the Indian Union Muslim League,” said advocate A Jayashankar, a senior political analyst from Kerala. “In order to hold the smaller parties and perhaps bring back the Kerala Congress (M), the Congress may need the comeback of a tall leader and political strategist like Chandy.” Congress sources reveal that names like V D Satheesan, Kodikunnil Suresh, K Muraleedharan, Mullappally Ramachandran, P T Thomas and Benny Behanan, too, are in the fray for the post of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president. This, after V M Sudheeran resigned from the position in March, and M M Hassan was appointed as interim chief. 

 

The dilemma before the party high command comes at a time when two leaders from Kerala are being elevated to the party’s national leadership.  K C Venugopal, former Union minister and member of Parliament from Alappuzha, was selected national general secretary and put in charge of the party affairs in Karnataka. On the other hand, P C Vishnunath, who was kept away from the post of Kollam district president recently, was elevated to the post of secretary.

 

“Here comes the caste factor. With these two leaders coming from the Nair community and state Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala also a Nair, chances of a Christian leader like Chandy helming the PCC in Kerala, are brighter,” Jayashankar said. “If Chandy declines the post, K V Thomas may emerge as a dark horse in the race, as he is close to the Gandhi family.” Last week, AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, in charge of the party’s Kerala affairs, stated that Hassan would continue as KPCC president till October when the organisational polls would be over.”

 

Interestingly, former KPCC chief K Muraleedharan has said that he is not keen on the post and the new president should be elected purely on the basis of merit. Muraleedharan has openly backed Chandy for the top job.  However, accepting responsibility for the 2016 Assembly elections loss, the Congress veteran had announced that he would not accept any post. In those polls, the Congress under Chandy won only 47 out of 140 seats, losing almost seven per cent of votes across the state compared to the previous elections.

 

Is Opposition a failure?

 

Many believe that being in the Opposition, the Congress did not capitalise enough on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s governance and political failures. “Chennithala is a disaster as an Opposition leader,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State General Secretary K Surendran said. “There were issues such as corruption charges against key functionaries, problems related to the land mafia in Munnar, political violence by the CPM, self-financing colleges and resignation of two ministers, which the Congress failed to highlight to the public.”

 

Surendran believes the IUML may also break ties with the Congress and join the Left Democratic Front soon, leading to a battle between the latter and a BJP-led alliance in the state. “At this rate, the Congress will become irrelevant in Kerala politics soon,” Surendran said. “Even local Congress leaders are involved in land grabbing in the Munnar region. Hence, they are unable to raise their voice against these social issues and are even unable to find a suitable KPCC president.”

 

Although Chandy will be able to bring mass appeal to the party if selected Congress chief, it may exacerbate the infighting between party factions. The group led by Chennithala is unlikely to welcome Chandy’s comeback as this could weaken the former’s claim for the chief minister’s post if the party comes to power in 2021.

 

“As usual the ball is in the Congress high command’s court,” Jayashankar said. “In October, the Congress could either see Chandy’s rise or the airdrop of a compromise candidate acceptable to all groups.”