The process of restructuring may not provide a silver bullet, but it can give a sense of direction to the party
Some members of the old guard of Congress in Kerala are against it ongoing restructuring The party’s defeat in the state assembly elections this year forced a change of leadership, which did not go down well with senior leaders such as former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala. New Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President, K. Sudhakaran, and the Leader of the Opposition, VD Satheesan, criticized leader VM Sudheeran for not consulting senior leaders ‘adequately’ while finalizing the list of district Congress presidents. During this uproar, disciplinary action was initiated against the leaders who made publicly derogatory statements against the selection.
restructuring efforts
When the party went to the polls, its weaknesses included its bulky, top-heavy structure. The shake-up saw the nearly 500-member state committee give way A ‘manageable’ 56-member body, The new leadership is now gearing up to select district committee members – no more than 51 in large districts and up to 31 in smaller ones – by mid-December.
The reshuffle of the KPCC has made the 21-member Political Affairs Committee (PAC) appointed by the All India Congress Committee virtually redundant or relegated to an advisory role in 2016 to senior leaders who want to put the PAC in the saddle. . However, this would backfire as there could be run-ins with the new state committee.
Congress is now mobilizing unit committees below the booth level to rebuild the party at the grassroots level. There is a plan to form at least one lakh such committees. A structured program to train volunteers is already being implemented at various levels, with an emphasis on “organisational history, secular tradition and democratic approaches”. Also on the cards is a ‘political school’, which will be first set up in Thiruvananthapuram, to strengthen the ideological base and political vision of the leaders.
win back support
Congress’s commitment to secularism was questioned when the party proposed to bring in a law criminalizing the entry of women into Sabarimala. A reconsideration in the party about that campaign is evident, as the Congress used ‘halal’ markings on serving ‘halal’ food and some parcels of jaggery purchased by Sabarimala temple authorities for a similarly communally charged campaign by the BJP. The refusal is being considered for citing. To prepare the 2019 Aravana Prasadam.
Another big task for the party’s state leadership is to win back the communities that have been swept away. It was the Muslim League’s growing prominence in the Chandy government of 2011 that created bad blood within the Congress-led UDF and angered the strongest faction of the Kerala Congress, which was influential among Catholic Christians. With the Kerala Congress (Mani) now allying with the Left and some sections of the Church trying to align with the BJP, it is a difficult task for the Congress to gain the trust of a large section of Christian voters.
Meanwhile, the trickiest question is whether the organizational reshuffle is just another outrageous exercise, given that organizational elections are due in a year or so. Opponents of the reshuffle point to the ongoing membership drive, which is due to end on March 31, 2022, if not extended. Nominations of party office bearers will be put on hold after the campaign is over and elections are declared. Whether the party should wait until after to organize their house is a million dollar question. The current restructuring process may not provide a silver bullet, but it may give a direction to the party.
anandan.s@thehindu.co.in
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