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Congress sends out open invite to ex-allies in Kerala. 2 swift rejections follow
Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran said the state’s ruling LDF’s policies were similar to that of the central government and many of the ruling coalition’s constituents were unhappy
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Congress (Mani) and Loktantric Janata Dal (LJD), the two parties that exited the Congres-led United Democratic Front ahead of last year’s state elections on Monday, rejected a fresh call from the Kerala Congress to get them to return, asserting that there was no scope for a political realignment in the state.
The rejection came within 24 hours of the opposition Congress’s call at the end of its two-day brainstorming session in north Kerala’s Kozhikode on Sunday to win back some of its allies that crossed over to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). In its “Kozhikode declaration”, the Congress prepared a blueprint for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to help repeat its 2019 performance when the UDF bagged 19 out of 20 Lok Sabha seats.
“The ruling LDF is following the same fascist agenda that PM Modi is implementing at the Centre. With this, many Left constituents are dissatisfied and we are welcoming them to the UDF,” said the declaration read out by Kerala Congress president K Sudhakaran.
It also called for immediate measures to win back minority communities that deserted the Congress camp in the 2021 assembly elections and are backing the CPI(M). Congress leaders said that though minority communities mostly voted for the Congress candidate in the Thrikkakara by-poll two months ago, there is a need to consolidate the trend over the next two years.
Kerala Congress (Mani) leader Stephen George swiftly rejected the invite. “We are happy with the LDF camp. There is no scope for any fresh realignment at this juncture. The party suffered a lot in the UDF and there is no question of going back,” he said.
The Kerala Congress (M), which is seen as a predominant Christian party, left the UDF in 2020 and helped the LDF win many assembly seats in the Christian heartland of Kottayam and Idukki.
“The LJD will remain with the ruling front. I have no idea what prompted the Congress to give such a call,” said LJD leader M V Shreyams Kumar. Junior partner Communist Party of India (CPI) also criticised the Congress. “It seems the party is desperate for power,” said party secretary Kanam Rajendran. He asked the party to focus on stopping Congress leaders from leaving for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rather than try to get others to join the party.
But Congress leaders insisted that many constituents of the ruling LDF were unhappy in the coalition and were expected to make their move. They called the “chintan shivir” a refreshing move and iterated that the party took many decisions to strengthen its mass base in the state. Some of the decisions include a complete organisational revamp down till booth level, steps to strengthen local units in six months and setting up an internal complaints committee for women.
An action plan will be formulated for every month and a committee will be constituted to implement them, said K Sudhakaran MP.
At the two-day meet, some party leaders asked the party to stop leaning on “soft Hindutva” tactics to compete with the BJP. “The party is always secular. We have to shed some of our soft Hindutva position. This will help regain the confidence of minority communities. The BJP is our main rival and the CPI(M) is only secondary,” said senior leader K Muraleedharan MP during the meet.
Two former Kerala Congress presidents, V M Sudheeran and Mullapally Ramachandran, stayed away from the “chintan shivir.”
Party watchers said some initiatives will help. “Kerala is a key state for the party. The recent by-poll win helped reinvigorate the party to an extent and it has to keep tempo till 2024 to repeat its 2019 performance,” said political commentator John Mary.
