The political affairs committee (PAC) of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) met here on Wednesday to hone key policy offers and clinch national and regional issues that resonate among voters to shape the party’s campaign strategy for the impending Lok Sabha election campaign in the State.
The PAC hoped for a repeat of the 2019 elections when the United Democratic Front (UDF), riding on Rahul Gandhi’s candidature in Wayanad, won 19 out of the 20 parliamentary seats in the State.
The KPCC pointedly rejected a Communist Party of India (CPI) suggestion that Mr. Gandhi not seek re-election from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency lest it is construed as a sign of weakness and harm the electoral prospects of non-United Democratic Front (UDF) INDIA bloc in Kerala.
The PAC met against the backdrop of the report that key allies, including the Indian Union Muslim League, were seeking more parliamentary seats on the INDIA bloc ticket. Muslim social organisations such as the Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama have argued for enhanced representation for candidates from the community in the polls.
The KPCC must also walk a tightrope between balancing the interests of various communities and castes. It also has to factor in the All India Congress Committee’s backward class pitch, with party national president Mallikarjun Kharge calling for a caste census for better targeted affirmative action.
The PAC also met amid reports of dissensions within the KPCC. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, MLA, had expressed disappointment that he was passed over for a post in the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Congress leader K. Muraleedharan, MP, had expressed a desire to quit electoral politics.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan highlighted their statements to portray a party riven by dissension at the helm. Candidate selection would also pose a hurdle for the Congress. It could ill-afford rebels.
The PAC also deliberated on launching a counter-campaign to the government’s mass contact programme. The Congress has deemed the mass contact programme a thinly veiled election campaign pitch at public expense. It has decided to boycott the government programme. Still, it would have to weigh the political cost of UDF legislators staying away from the Assembly constituency-level grievance redressal drive headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Cabinet.
A Kerala Yatra by KPCC president K. Sudhakaran seemed to be on the cards. Moreover, the Congress also resolved to highlight corruption scandals dogging the government to portray the CPI(M) as a party of negativity and attack politics. The KPCC executive will convene here on Thursday.
