Why Congress appointing next Kerala chief remains work in slow progress
Kerala’s ruling Congress is running its affairs with a part-time state chief ever since incumbent Sunny Joseph was appointed minister for power in the V.D. Satheesan government this year. Five months and several rounds of consultations later, no leader has been identified to take charge of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).
Congress insiders say the central leadership has been rather busy with the anti-Centre protests in New Delhi. “The delay in appointing the PCC chief for Kerala and reconstituting the team is because of the hectic political engagements of our leaders in Delhi. After Diwali, the high command is expected to take a decision based on a broad consensus,” a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity, told INDIA TODAY.
The buzz in media circles is that veteran Congress MP and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Kodikunnil Suresh or revenue minister A.P. Anilkumar are frontrunners in the race to be PCC chief. “Media reports suggest Kodikunnil has the support of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge while Anilkumar’s name has been floated by K.C. Venugopal loyalists. However, the high command is yet to initiate discussions on the appointments,” the Congress leader said.
Both Suresh and Anilkumar are Dalit leaders with credible political track-records. Suresh has been elected to the Lok Sabha eight times. He was Union minister of state for labour in the second term of the Manmohan Singh government. Anilkumar has represented the Wandoor (reserved) constituency in the Kerala assembly for the past 25 years.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Joseph Vazhackan, Congress MP Shafi Parambil and Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan were considered among probables for the PCC post.
“The high command will consult senior leaders in the state before finalising the PCC chief. Caste, region and credibility will be factors. Since the party is in power, the PCC chief should have a bigger role—of coordination and defending the government and the party,” the Congress leader observed.
Satheesan would want a PCC president who does not embarrass the government in any way. The backdrop to this is the case of United Democratic Front (UDF) convenor and Congress MP Adoor Prakash revolting over the chief minister purportedly taking unilateral decisions in the government. Prakash had lodged complaints with both Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.
“Satheeshan is bound to have a hard time if a critic of his becomes PCC chief. Oommen Chandy had faced a similar situation as then PCC chief V.M. Sudheeran publicly disowned many of the decisions of the government in 2014-16. In Kerala, any tug of war between the PCC president and chief minister has invariably caused the exit of the latter,” opined political analyst Sanjeev Ramachandran.
Vazhackan, a former Congress MLA and former PCC vice-chief, told INDIA TODAY he had a fair chance of being considered for PCC chief because of his seniority and performance. “I hope for a decision soon as it would strengthen the party and the government,” the 69-year-old leader said.
The delay in PCC appointments has caused anxiety among party leaders and cadre. Former PCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran has said the uncertainty has weakened the organisation in a party-ruled state. “Without a full-time PCC chief, the Congress is unable to articulate its political positions, views and issues in a timely manner,” Mullappally told the media.
