The results of the State Youth Congress elections seem to signal the start of a possible change in group equations in the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
For one, the elections saw the boundaries between the legacy of ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions blurring, with Youth Congress workers reportedly voting across group lines in many districts. However, the inner-party election campaign had the contours of factionalism.
Nevertheless, the fog of factional rivalry in the KPCC seems to have clouded a clear interpretation of the election results purely on group lines.
A Congress insider who hazarded to read the political tea leaves of the outcome felt that the ‘A’ and ‘I’ factions had vied for the top YC State president’s post.
Emergent group
The purportedly emergent “K.C. Venugopal” group reportedly eyed the posts of YC State vice-presidents possibly as a political investment for the future.
The leader said Rahul Mamkootathil, who polled the most number votes, is reckoned to be an ‘A’ group loyalist personally beholden to the late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The group fidelity seemed to echo in Mr. Mamkootathil’s post-election statement. He said he regretted that Chandy was not alive to witness the victory.
Some Congress leaders perceive Abin Varkey, who polled second, as an ‘I’ group loyalist indebted to senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala. They believe that Aritha Babu of Alappuzha and Jineesh of Thrissur, who polled a distant third and fourth, were obligated to Mr. Venugopal.
Interestingly, opposing Congress factions have claimed hegemony in YC polls in different districts. The defeat of Farseen Majeed, who purportedly had the backing of KPCC president K. Sudhakaran, stood out starkly.
Mr. Majeed had emerged as a poster boy of the YC after he staged a high-profile black-flag protest against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on board a domestic flight last year.
Veteran Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, appeared to signal that the days when organisational polls were fought strictly on group lines increasingly looked more in the past.
“The YC polls herald a new surge in the Congress that transcends group politics. It has paved the way for a young generation of leaders who would unite the party in Kerala under the banner of Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Venugopal,” he said.
