With the Lok Sabha elections just a few months away, the Kerala Congress factions have escalated their efforts to woo back the agrarian electorate of central Travancore.
Their intentions to assert farmer politics and surf the wave of farm distress and rural anger were amply evident as the competing factions celebrated the 60th formation day of the Kerala Congress here on Monday.
While the Kerala Congress led by P.J. Joseph, a key constituent of the United Democratic Front, used these themes to attack primarily the State government, the Kerala Congress (M) led by Jose K. Mani sought to highlight the anti-farmer policies of the Central government.
Addressing the formation day event organised by the Kerala Congress, Mr. Joseph held that the party was duty bound to continue its fight for the comprehensive development of Kerala and the uplift of the agricultural sector. He urged the Central and State governments to come up with action plans to ensure financial security for farmers.
“The Pinarayi Vijayan government, which has ignored the problems of people and made corruption its hallmark, is a disgrace to the country,” said Mr. Joseph. Working chairman P.C. Thomas presided over the function.
The KC(M), on the other hand, sought to use the occasion to highlight the alleged discrimination of rubber growers in Kerala by the Union government. Party chairman Jose K. Mani announced that the KC(M) would hold a farmers’ protest in front of Raj Bhavan on October 17 against the Centre for bringing the State’s rubber sector to a standstill.
Mr. Mani also sent a letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar seeking to ensure the security of Keralites in Israel, including hundreds of nurses.
“From agricultural workers’ pension to Karunya, the KC(M) founder-chairman K.M. Mani made immense contributions to making Kerala a welfare State. It is also a matter of pride that the KC(M), which has upheld agrarian politics for six decades, has played a critical role in determining the course of Kerala politics,” Mr. Mani said.
Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine, Thomas Chazhikadan, MP, and others were present.
The key Kerala Congress factions have been on an overdrive to reach out to the distressed farmers of the region even since the Catholic Church decided to co-opt the farmers’ cause. In March this year, the Church even openly criticised these parties for doing nothing to check the `sense of dread’ that had engulfed Kerala’s rubber plantations.
