A meeting of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Tuesday saw a winning chance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and beyond, given the “tectonic shift” in “disenchanted” Left Democratic Front (LDF) votes to the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Puthuppally Assembly byelection.
The KPCC pegged the erosion of the LDF votes in the constituency at 12,000 and predicted that the trend would reflect positively for the UDF in future elections.
The KPCC felt that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s “disdainful silence” on corruption scandals dogging his office and family, the “shocking tales” of entrenched corruption in the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-controlled cooperative banks and societies, the financial shenanigans of CPI(M) leaders, the party’s “contempt” for the rule of law, and “lack of inner party criticism against the political executive and absence of accountability and course correction” had prompted staunch LDF supporters to take a bleak view of their government. It concluded that the Puthuppally byelection was a strong bellwether of Kerala’s voting behaviour and a credible litmus test of the Pinarayi Vijayan government’s public approval.
Advantage UDF
The meeting sensed that the drift in “soured” LDF votes and the electorate’s “outright rejection” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would decisively advantage the UDF in future elections.
The KPCC gauged that traditional LDF voters were turned off by Mr. Vijayan’s “failure to convincingly explain the dubious payments received by his daughter and businessperson T. Veeena’s consultancy from a Kochi-based mining firm accused of an environmental crime.” Moreover, the “constant association” of Mr. Vijayan’s “relatives in corrupt deals” also distanced voters from the LDF.
The KPCC resolved to maintain the momentum gained by the Puthuppally and Thrikkakara byelection victories and the UDF’s good showing in the recent local body byelections.
Path to power
It perceived a clear path to power by ratcheting up the charges of corruption and misgovernance against the ruling front and presenting the UDF as a credible, transparent, democratic and empathetic governance alternative.
The KPCC identified the Karuvannur cooperative bank corruption, the high-level conspiracy to defame the late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in his twilight years, false police cases against journalists and Opposition leaders, and disparaging social media vilification campaigns against dissenters as issues to put the “increasingly authoritative” CPI(M) government in the dock.
The KPCC believed the Central Bureau of Investigation’s marked reluctance to appeal against Mr. Vijayan’s acquittal in the SNC-Lavalin case was evidence of a CPI(M)-BJP unholy nexus. Coalition and Congress unity helped the UDF broadcast a unified and undistracted message to voters in Puthuppally.
The meeting resolved to expedite party reorganisation at the crucial mandalam president, booth committee and block levels.
