Ramesh Chennithala interview | ‘Political climate is in favour of Congress in Kerala this time’

Ramesh Chennithala, the chairman of Congress’s Kerala Lok Sabha election campaign committee, has been in the thick of action since the party launched its poll campaign in the State.

Mr. Chennithala, former Home Minister and former Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, feels that the Congress party will succeed in winning all the 20 seats in the State this time, including Alappuzha, the only constituency it had lost in the 2019 General Elections.

Mr. Chennithala pins his hopes of repeating the impressive win of the party and the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala on what he terms as the strong organisational network and the continuous political engagement of the party with the people of the State.

In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Chennithala speaks about the aspirations and challenges of the Congress party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, both at the national and the State levels.

What are the probabilities and possibilities for the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections?

Our effort is to unite all the Opposition parties in the country. During the last Parliament election (in 2019), Narendra Modi came to power by securing only 35% of the votes polled and the remaining 65% of votes were divided among various political parties. The division of votes was the main factor that helped the NDA come to power. Taking note of the political reality, we decided to have a united front called INDIA alliance. We believe that we can give a befitting reply to the BJP in the coming Parliament elections if the political parties in the INDIA alliance can stand together.

How equipped is the Congress to face the present political situation? The party has been out of power for two consecutive terms in the centre as well as in Kerala.

It’s true that we have been in the Opposition in both the Centre and in Kerala for the last 10 years. In Kerala, the party has a well-knit organisational set-up. Even though we are in the Opposition, we were able to put up a good fight with the help of the party ideology. In Kerala, the Congress has a well-knit party organisational structure up to the booth level, which keeps the party floating. The regular political interaction of the party with the people has given us the confidence that we can win the maximum number of seats. Last time, we won 19 out of the 20 seats (in Kerala) and lost the Alappuzha seat by a margin of only 10,000 votes. This time, the political climate is totally in favour of the Congress. We have also been highlighting the misdeeds of the Central and the State governments.

As the main Opposition party, what are the challenges the Congress is facing?

The biggest challenge before the party is the misuse of the official machinery by both the State and the Central governments. The governments are misusing the official machinery in a manner as never before.

Mr. Modi has been trying to completely destroy the Congress party, which is not a good thing to happen in the political system. In parliamentary democracy, a good Opposition is also required to serve as a corrective force. Unfortunately, Mr. Modi thinks there should not be any Opposition parties in the country. He has been using government agencies and power to dismantle Opposition parties and target its leaders and workers. Mr. Modi wishes that there shall be only one party and one ideology for the country, which is not possible in a country like India. People believe in different political parties and have faith in different political ideologies. Though Mr. Modi is the Prime Minister, he cannot demolish all the political parties in the country, which would be a dangerous proposition.

I remember an election campaign of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in eastern Uttar Pradesh where he was campaigning for the Congress candidate. However, on reaching the place, Nehru realised that socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia was the rival candidate of the Congress party there. Instead of the Congress candidate, Nehru canvassed votes for Lohia. Later, Nehru explained that he canvassed votes for Lohia as his presence in the House would strengthen parliamentary democracy. That is our political culture, which Mr. Modi wants to end.

Amit Shah and Mr. Modi are ruthless politicians who want to finish off all the other political parties so that they can rule the country forever. That is not possible.

A large number of Congress leaders have deserted the party and joined the BJP. Has it not affected the morale of the party workers?

Some people have left the Congress party for various reasons. While some left for power, some others deserted the party as they feared that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department may come after them. However, the Congress is very active. Thousands of party workers who believe in the ideology of the Congress are still alive and working for the party. Narendra Modi cannot finish off the Congress party. We are re-emerging day by day and facing the challenges.

Do you feel that the government is stifling the Opposition parties using enforcement agencies such as the ED, the CBI, and the Income Tax department?

Recently, the Income Tax department froze the bank accounts of the Congress party when we are facing a General Election. Is it proper? It has also been sending us notices when we are in the election campaign. Once our accounts are frozen, how can we give help to our candidates? How can we function? How can we propagate our ideals and our goals? How will people understand what the Congress stands for?

The BJP is also white-washing the tainted leaders. Recently, the investigation agencies gave NCP leader Praful Patel a clean chit in the corruption case after he joined the BJP. The investigation agencies vigorously followed the cases against him while he was part of the INDIA alliance. The BJP has become a washing machine. Mr. Modi had earlier raised allegations against Ajit Pawar regarding a ₹76,000 crore scam. Once Mr. Pawar switched sides, he became clean. He has even become the Deputy Chief Minister in Maharashtra and now no cases are pending against him.

Last time, when the Congress won 19 out of 20 seats (in Kerala), the presence of Rahul Gandhi as a candidate in Wayanad had contributed much to the performance of the party. There was also a general impression that Mr. Gandhi may become the Prime Minister. Is the party still banking on the Rahul Gandhi factor to score an impressive win like the last time?

It’s true that there was an impression that the Congress would come back to power and Rahul Gandhi would become the Prime Minister. But that was not the only factor that influenced the Congress’s performance. The issue related to the entry of women to the hill shrine of Sabarimala was also alive during the last elections. The misdeeds of the Central government were a crucial factor. There was widespread resentment against the Kerala government. People were angry and dissatisfied with the functioning of the LDF government in Kerala. All these factors contributed to the spectacular victory of the Congress.

This time too, the atmosphere is favourable for the Congress as the people of Kerala are completely dissatisfied with the LDF government. The government is not functioning at all. Their focus is only on delivering public speeches and organising seminars. No significant development activity has taken place in the State.

People are quite unhappy with the Kerala government as the disbursement of salary was disrupted. So is the case with welfare pensions. The dissatisfaction of the general public against the State and the Union governments and anti-incumbency factors will help us. These factors will eventually help the Congress win the maximum number of seats. Even the workers of the Communist party are not happy because of the rampant corruption in the government and the style of functioning of the Chief Minister (Pinarayi Vijayan).

The Congress is relevant forever in India. People had earlier written off the Congress. Even Indira Gandhi was defeated. However, the Congress has staged a comeback. It has led the people in the country and given them a new direction. The setbacks are a temporary phenomenon. The BJP is trying to polarise society and has got some advantages in the Hindi heartland. But look at the situation in other parts of the country, especially the south, west and east. The Congress has an edge in these areas. We are planning to have a comeback with the help of all the political parties together.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had been stressing in his public meetings that the minorities will be secure under the LDF, especially after the Union government came out with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Has the Congress failed to convince the minorities about its credentials or to keep the minority voters that used to vote for the party with it?

The people of Kerala are convinced that only the Congress can save the country from Mr. Modi’s regime as the CPI(M) cannot do much at the national level. Unlike the Congress, the CPI(M) does not have any foothold in other parts of the country. The Congress is the only party who can take on the BJP and Narendra Modi. Even minority community members feel that the Congress should come back to power and will vote for the party.

Mr. Vijayan’s attempt is to camouflage all the anti-people acts of the government through such propaganda, which won’t succeed. It took four years for the government to withdraw the cases booked in connection with the anti-CAA protests in Kerala. A large number of youths had suffered due to the delay in withdrawing the cases. If the Chief Minister was sincere to this cause, he should have withdrawn the cases much earlier. The government now decided to withdraw the cases because of the fact that the Parliament election is around the corner. The government is attempting to take maximum benefits in the election by raising the issue of CAA. Once voted to power, the Congress will repeal the legislation so that the people will get back the freedom to choose their citizenship.

Of late, Congress leaders have been quite vociferous about the alleged CPI(M)-BJP tie-ups or secret alliance. Is the alliance a reality?

The alliance is a reality because both parties aim to destroy the Congress. During the last Assembly elections (in 2019), the Congress-led UDF got 40% votes and the CPI(M)-led LDF 44%. However, the vote share of the BJP came down to 10% from the previous 14%, which resulted in the CPI(M) returning to power. The BJP votes went to the CPI(M) in as many as 69 seats.

On its part, the Union government is going soft on the cases related to the CPI(M) leaders and the daughter of the Chief Minister. The Central agencies are soft-pedalling on the investigation into the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, the Karuvannur cooperative bank loan scam and the cases against the Chief Minister’s daughter. Though the Prime Minister had repeatedly stated that he knew who was helping the gold smugglers, the government has not acted in the case. The Chief Minister, who is always critical of Rahul Gandhi, has been maintaining a silence on Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah.

A defeat of the Congress in Kerala will be equally beneficial to the CPI(M) and the BJP. So both parties are happy with this kind of arrangement. I am not saying it is an alliance. It is an arrangement between the BJP and the CPI(M).

The SNC-Lavalin hydroelectric case booked by the CBI involving Mr. Vijayan has been postponed 39 times in the Supreme Court because of the political understanding between the BJP and the CPI(M). The CPI (M) and the BJP had come together to end political violence in Kannur district. It’s a good initiative to end political violence and I appreciate that. RSS leaders and the Chief Minister sat together following an initiative from spiritual leader M and entered into an understanding to end the political killings. The political killings have come to an end following the meeting. Now, they are taking the understanding to end the violence into some sort of political arrangement to weaken the Congress.