The internal strife in the Congress over the selection of new block presidents seems to worsen by the day.
The ‘A’ group appears to have crossed the Rubicon by reportedly summoning a “closed-door group meeting” in Malappuram on Tuesday.
The development, it seems, has rendered the party’s Wayanad leadership conclave’s decision to forego overt factional activities redundant. It has also set the stage for a new season of group warfare in the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The KPCC leadership had reportedly angered the ‘A’ group by “whittling down” the number of group loyalists shortlisted for block panchayat presidentships in Malappuram from 18 to 11. The faction felt its dominance threatened.
The ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups have traditionally vied with each other for prominence in organisational matters. Now they seems to have found themselves on the same page for once.
Senior Congress leader and ‘I’ group helmsman Ramesh Chennithala, MLA, seems to give the nod to ‘A’ group grievances by observing complaints were rife that consensus had eluded Congress reorganisation.
The current discord could not have come at a worse time for the party as it prepares for the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress’ emphatic win in the Assembly elections in Karnataka had raised the hope that the party will do well in the parliamentary election in Kerala. Congress unity held, and factional tensions melted away, albeit briefly.
A Congress insider says the ‘A’ and ’I’ factions feel severely threatened by the perceived emergence of a new group allegedly headed by KPCC president K. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and backed by “an authority figure” in the AICC leadership.
He says the groups are aggrieved that the “new axis of power” has weaponised the reorganisation process to pack Congress blocks with persons deemed loyal to the emergent “clique”.
Poorly for the Congress, the public feuding has projected the depressing picture of three rival camps locked in a bitter struggle to control an organisationally weak party. It also signals that the Congress’ disciplinary systems seem impotent to keep the factions in line.
Nevertheless, the AICC seems unlikely to budge to group pressure. AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar told reporters in New Delhi that a party shake-up as part of poll preparedness could rarely satisfy everyone. He said the reorganisation process was via consensus.
