Bad candidate selection did us in, says Cong panel on Kerala poll

Bad selection of candidates and allocation of winnable seats to alliance partners were the main reasons for the poor show of the Congress in the Kerala assembly elections in April last year, a party’s fact-finding committee has revealed.

Bad selection of candidates and allocation of winnable seats to alliance partners were the main reasons for the poor show of the Congress in the Kerala assembly elections in April last year, a party’s fact-finding committee has revealed.

HT Image

A three-member committee, headed by Vakkom Purushothaman, had been appointed by the state unit to probe the party’s poor performance in the assembly polls. Although the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) regained power, it won 72 seats, only four more than the CPM-headed Left Democratic Front.

The panel also held several Congressmen responsible for the defeat of some party candidates, especially in Calicut and Ernakulam. It has suggested tough measures against the leaders who were held guilty of the defeat of party candidates.

The report has also brought to the fore the rift in the state unit. While some leaders, including union minister Mullappally Ramachandran and the members of the committee, want immediate action, others such as PC Chacko said the bad selection of candidates was a mistake on the part of the party leadership.