The Congress has launched its preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Kerala by organising district-level meetings of its functionaries representing booth, block, and ‘mandalam’ committees.
The first such meeting was held in Kozhikode on Wednesday, where Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged that the CPI(M) had entered into a tie-up with the BJP for a “Congress-free” State.
Opening the event, Mr. Sudhakaran said that the party should utilise the current “conducive political climate” for its electoral victory. He exhorted the party cadre to gear up for the Parliament election to ensure that the party candidates emerged winners in all the 20 seats in the State.
Political observers, however, do not foresee a clean sweep as the Congress is yet to set its house in order. The organisational restructuring announced by Mr. Sudhakaran, when he took over as party State president over two years ago, has not been completed in all districts. The Congress unit committees, his pet project to reinvigorate the party and turn into a “semi-cadre” system, has not been set up in many places too.
But, both Mr. Sudhakaran and Mr. Satheesan are apparently pinning their hopes on the anti-incumbency feelings against the Left Democratic Front government in the State and the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, along with the popularity of its incumbent MPs, to come up trumps in the elections. The district-level meetings are also seen as an attempt by both the leaders to cover up the alleged differences of opinions between them.
In the course of his speech, Mr. Sudhakaran accused the Pinarayi Vijayan government of being neck-deep in corruption, with the Chief Minister’s family, party leaders and trade union functionaries being part of alleged illegal deals. He also claimed that Mr. Vijayan was not being targeted by the Central agencies, who were otherwise busy zeroing in on Opposition leaders, because of a tacit understanding between the BJP and the CPI(M).
“The Central Bureau of Investigation Special Court has deferred the SNC Lavalin corruption case involving Mr. Vijayan 37 times. There is no action against Mr. Vijayan in the LIFE Mission corruption case as well. The Enforcement Directorate has not registered any case against him,” Mr. Sudhakaran said. He also claimed that as a quid pro quo, the police under Mr. Vijayan was not arraigning BJP leader K. Surendran in the Kodakara black money case. Mr. Satheesan also echoed Mr. Sudhakaran’s words and asked the party leaders to set up a strong system which would work in elections.
Later, both the leaders held separate meetings with the party functionaries in the district.
