‘A’ and ‘I’ groups stoke up demand for inner-party polls

AICC leadership views it as a step into the unknown

The row in the Congress in Kerala over the appointment of District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents has reportedly constrained the influential ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups to resurrect the long-standing and arguably improbable demand for organisational elections.

When pressed, ‘I’ group leader Ramesh Chennithala told newspersons on Wednesday: “Organisational elections are welcome if held according to the timetable set by the All India Congress Committee (AICC).” The ‘A’ group led by Oommen Chandy is also reportedly stoking up a similar demand.

The insistence on inner-party elections reflected the growing sense of powerlessness among the factions over the reorganisation process.

The groups reportedly felt they could claw back to organisational relevance and negotiate with the official Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leadership from a position of strength by powering the demand for inner-party polls ahead of the impending reorganisation exercise.

A faction manager claimed the incumbent “power pair”, KPCC president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, did not have the required organisational leverage in the party to survive an inner-party election. “The rank and file of the KPCC are organised obstinately on group lines. It is difficult to break the mould,” he said.

However, the AICC viewed the demand for organisational elections as a step into the unknown. It felt the call for holding inner-party elections instead of nominating office-bearers might look rosy on paper but unravel in actuality.

Hence, the AICC had plumbed for the idea of a strong KPCC president who did not have to bother about the electoral approval of party factions.

Notably, AICC general secretary, organisation, K.C. Venugopal, and Mr. Satheesan openly repudiated factionalism and affirmed in Kannur on Thursday that Mr. Sudhakaran was the final word of the Congress in Kerala.

A party insider said the AICC felt factionalism was hugely responsible for Congress’s debacle in the 2021 Assembly polls.

The AICC has endorsed the KPCC’s move to crack the whip on factionalism. It has warned group leaders against making a spectacle of themselves in the media by feuding publicly.

The AICC wanted the KPCC to be laser focussed on authoring a generational shift in the party to halt declining membership and improve its electoral prospects in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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