Last week, the factional feud within the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee came out in the open with the selection of 14 presidents of the District Congress Committee (DCC) and a series of disciplinary actions against few leaders for a public outburst. Speaking to Ramesh Babu, state unit chief and Kannur MP K Sudhakaran says while most of the differences have been “settled”, discipline is supreme to the party.
The rumblings within the Congress are out in the open. For how long will the present stalemate continue?
There is no big crisis as such, as portrayed by the media. In a democratic party like Congress, it is natural that differences will crop up and the present case is one such case. But discipline is paramount in the party. We have settled most of our differences. Opposition leader V D Satheesan called on senior leaders Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to iron out wrinkles. I also met them. Since we have settled everything, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Tariq Anwar won’t be coming to the state now.
We will carry everyone along, we will hear our seniors properly. There is no question of any neglect or step-motherly attitude. Our aim is to strengthen the party and turn it into a well-oiled machine. A strong party is the need of the hour.
Can we call it a generational shift?
The new leadership is a proper blend of fresh blood and experience, we need new ideas, mode and direction. It doesn’t mean seniors leaders will have to take a backseat. The new team will take a leaf out of their rich experience to reinvigorate the party. The party is supreme and the factions can take rest now. Senior leader Oommen Chandy said a couple of days back in Kottayam that the party is first and the groups are second.
You said the Congress would be turned into a semi-cadre party soon. How do you plan to achieve this? Any plan to attract more youth?
Yes, we will transform it into a new party in six months. It will be a semi-cadre outfit and you will see the differences soon. We will select 2,500 committed cadres — 1,000 from Youth Congress and 1,500 from our trade wing INTUC. We will train and groom them. We have to attract more youth. There will be special drives at the grassroots and leaders will oversee them. All office-bearers will have to submit a performance report periodically. These posts are not showpieces, they will have to work on the ground. We will spot exceptional ones and groom them. We have to strengthen our students and youth outfits. In the 1970s and 80s, a surge of youth leaders catapulted the party to new highs in the state. We need a similar move. The Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies in the state capital started regular workshops for them. The new DCC chiefs will also attend such workshops. The party will have a new look and vigor and it will be visible in six months.
How do you see the state tackling the pandemic?
I don’t have to say it in detail, the records tell. The state continues to report more than 65 per cent of the total Covid-19 cases of the country and another deadly threat of Nipah has also emerged. This is the third onset of Nipah. No serious study was done. Even the source of the first outbreak in 2018 remains a mystery. My humble request to the government is to hear experts more and avoid politics. Kerala has the best health infrastructure in the country, despite this we are in a sorry state now. Inept handling and race for cheap publicity landed the government in such a mess. Hope the chief minister will realise his follies at least now and correct them.
There are claims that the BJP is taking the space of the opposition Congress in the state. Do you agree?
It is a baseless question. A desperate BJP tried its best to widen its base but its lone account (a single MLA in the last assembly) was also closed. We played a vital role in it. Among all state units, the BJP has the weakest one in Kerala, it doesn’t have a proper leader and infighting reigns supreme.
What we witness these days is a secret understanding between the ruling CPI(M) and BJP. What happened to the gold and dollar smuggling cases? High-profile probes stopped abruptly after the chief minister’s right-hand man was grilled. The Lavalin case (in which chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s name allegedly cropped up) was deferred 28 times in court and most of the time, at the initiative of the probe agency (CBI).
In return, the chief minister is protecting state BJP leaders in the highway heist and hawala cases (snatching of alleged funds meant for BJP electioneering in Thrissur in last April). The CPI(M)’s Congress-‘mukt’ Kerala will remain a day dream. I am sure people will expose this unholy alliance.
