THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After losing the battle of optics despite winning more than 8,000 seats in the local body elections, the discontent in the state Congress party came out in the open as leader after leader on Sunday poured his/her heart out before the four AICC delegates who arrived here to sort out the organisational issues before the assembly elections.
A majority of KPCC and DCC office-bearers who met AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Tariq Anwar, secretaries P Viswanathan (Tamil Nadu), Ivan D’Souza and P V Mohan (both from Karnataka) at Indira Bhavan on Sunday flayed the top three of KPCC and pointed out the glaring organisational weaknesses and lack of preparation by the leadership.
However, the current crop of DCC presidents is most likely to get a grace period as the notification for the assembly elections is expected in March or April. After meeting nearly 50 leaders in close to 10 hours, Anwar ruled out any change of guard in the KPCC leadership, giving a breather to president Mullappally Ramachandran, who was standing next to him. “After the talks with the state leaders, I will submit my report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She will take a call on the corrective measures,” he said.
The office-bearers vented their ire against the leadership and the rampant factionalism plaguing the party. They lamented the lack of coordination among the top brass and reluctance to release election funds in time. A majority of them highlighted the lack of communication between Mullappally and UDF convener M M Hassan on the local-level adjustments hatched with the Welfare Party of India.
Senior Congress MLA V D Satheesan apprised the central leaders of the “outdated party chief” and the “totally disconnected leader from the people”. “It should be recalled that the Congress was fighting against two cadre-based parties in the state where none of the 150-plus KPCC office-bearers were entrusted with responsibilities or given assignments,” he told TNIE.
“The poll debacle was due to organisational failure. The Congress is not a party that will implement its decisions overnight. Changing DCC presidents will take time. When the state is expected to go to the polls in the next three-four months, it is not advisable to change them, except in Wayanad, Palakkad and Ernakulam where they are holding dual posts,” Satheesan told TNIE.
However, Thrissur MP T N Prathapan urged the central leaders to replace seven DCC presidents who had put up dismal performances. He blamed rampant factionalism and sharing of seats between ‘A’ and ‘I’ groups for the poll debacle. He did not spare the KPCC leadership either.
Besides calling for putting an end to factionalism, senior Congress leader P C Chacko said the UDF allies should also be taken into confidence when elections to seats that fall vacant in the Rajya Sabha take place.
Attingal MP Adoor Prakash told the AICC delegates that if the Congress does not give adequate representation to the single largest community in the state, Ezhava, the results in the imminent assembly elections would be “catastrophic”. “Apart from highlighting the lapses by the Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram DCCs, I brought to their notice the lack of Ezhava representation in the party in the two districts I was given charge during the local body elections. I told them that Ezhava votes have started going en masse to the Left and saffron camps,” Adoor Prakash told TNIE.
When Tariq Anwar landed here on Saturday night, little did he anticipate the severity and forcefulness of accusations against the top state leaders. He held the first round of talks with Mullappally before meeting the nearly 50 leaders one by one. The leaders will be huddled with leaders of UDF allies on Monday morning after attending a padayatra from the party headquarters to Martyr’s Square at Palayam to mark the Congress’ foundation day. They will meet the KPCC general secretaries and vice-presidents on Monday.