The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M. V. Govindan on Friday sought to portray the Congress as a divided house plagued by rivalry, resentment, jealousy and one-upmanship at the helm.
Mr. Govindan’s perception dovetailed with the narrative of a succession of top and mid-level leaders who had resentfully deserted the Congress to ally with the CPI(M). His averment also triggered speculation about whether more high-profile defections were in the offing.
Mr. Govindan said several top Congress leaders were disgruntled. He singled out former Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, MLA, and K. Muraleedharan, MP, as emblematic of the bourgeoning “disaffection” in the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
He said the late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had observed in his autobiography that Mr. Chennithala had the requisite numbers in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) to serve a second term as Leader of the Oppositionr. However, the Congress high command spurned Mr. Chennithala for V.D. Satheesan. Congress’ top-down and patently undemocratic organisational structure was cracking, he said.
Mr. Govindan appeared to tout Mr. Chennithala’s case when the senior Congress leader publicly expressed disappointment that the party had not considered him for the coveted Congress Working Committee (CWC) post. Instead, Mr. Chennithala felt the Congress accommodated rank juniors in the top party forum and relegated him to the arguably subordinate status of a permanent invitee, a position the senior leader had held 19 years before.
Mr. Govindan also said the Congress had sidelined Mr. Muraleedharan despite the latter’s long years in politics. “Mr. Muraleedharan has said he would not contest future elections and felt unwelcome in the party,” Mr. Govindan said.
Mr. Govindan also appeared to champion Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran’s case after a live microphone captured the latter wrangling with Mr. Satheesan over who should commence the laudatory post-Puthuppally byelection press conference on September 8. “As party president, Mr. Satheesan should have allowed Mr. Sudhakaran to have the first word at the press conference. Instead, he swept the microphones away from Mr. Sudhakaran only to push them back later,” Mr. Govindan said.
The Congress viewed the CPI(M)‘s gambit as a calculated bid to dabble in the party’s internal affairs with a view to isolating Mr. Satheesan. An insider said the CPI(M) felt desperate that Mr. Satheesan and other leaders successfully stewarded the United Democratic Front through two Assembly and local body byelections. The Congress and the INDIA bloc were on a winning trajectory. He said that CPI(M)‘s hope that top leaders would change horses midstream would remain a pipe dream.
