Venugopal comes under fire in Kerala for Cong. defeat in five States

The crushing defeat of the Congress in the recent Assembly elections in five States has found its resonance in Kerala, with the simmering unrest in the party unit manifesting itself in the form of resentment against the central leadership. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, in particular, has come under strong criticism from a section of Congress workers in the State.

While Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran issued a statement warning party workers after posters demanding the ouster of Mr. Venugopal from the key party post appeared at several places in north Kerala on Saturday, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy who was in New Delhi to attend the Congress Working Committee meeting on Sunday slammed attempts to single out Mr. Venugopal for the party’s dismal performance at the hustings. He said personal attacks against leaders went against the party’s ethos.

Several of the posters that appeared on Saturday morning ridiculed Mr. Venugopal, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, and called for removing him from the party post. "Oust Venugopal, Save Congress" read the posters.

‘New power axis’

The appointment of DCC presidents in the run-up to the organisational shake-up in Kerala had reinforced the perception of a new power axis including Mr. Venugopal, Mr. Sudhakaran and Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan to replace the ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions led by Mr. Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala respectively.

But since then, Mr. Venugopal has been accused of drawing closer to Mr. Satheesan to forge a new faction and trying to induct his loyalists in party units to ensure dominance in the upcoming organisational polls.

His detractors also accuse him of using his proximity to the Gandhi family to influence the revamp of the party in Kerala following two back-to-back defeats in Assembly elections. A section of Congress leaders from Kerala had recently complained to the AICC that they were not being taken into confidence in the nomination of members to party committees.