Congress to restructure organisation in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 23 The Congress high command has been pondering a rejig in its Kerala unit to expand the party base.

AICC general secretary in charge, Kerala, Deepa Das Munshi held discussions over the reshuffle and submitted her report to the high command.

State party president K. Sudhakaran, also the Kannur Lok Sabha member minced no words that he is open to what the high command decides and said he doesn't give much importance to positions like president or Chief Minister as he has always been engaged in a free-for-all with the CPI-M in Kannur.

Sources said that with the party base shrinking and the new generation having their mindset of politics, the real challenge for the new president will be to provide a vibrant leadership that will work at the grassroots.

"The Congress party has always a precedent of looking into caste, creed and the community to which the president should hail from. But in the modern age even though these aspects will be looked into, they should be thinking along the lines of bringing in a non-controversial personality, preferably a young leader, if they have to get poll battle ready as the BJP is trying its best to expand also," said the sources.

The poll dynamics in Kerala is the CPI-M-led Left has a near fixed deposit vote share in the range of around 26 to 30 per cent and come what the situation is they will get this, while the Congress always survives on floating votes and it's here the BJP vote share comes into play.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP secured around 13 per cent votes and any increase in its vote share could be bad news for the Congress-led UDF. However, a significant change took place in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls when the Hindu Ezhava voters shifted from the CPI-M towards the BJP, especially in central Kerala districts.

It's here that the Congress is going to play their cards when selecting a replacement for Sudhakaran as a section feels the next president should either be a Christian or a Hindu Ezhava and the names of Congress MPs Adoor Prakash, Anto Antony, Benny Behanan and two-time young legislator Rogi M.John and legislator Sunny Joseph who is considered to be the closest aide of Sudhakaran are doing rounds.

Likewise, bringing in veteran Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh who belongs to the SC category is also being reported. Of late, with the CPI-M dropping its pro-Muslim attitude with an aim for Hindu consolidation, the Congress is expecting that a new president from the minority community will fetch rewards and that's one reason why several Christian aspirants for the post of president are being touted.

The minority communities include the Christians comprising around 17 to 18 per cent and the Muslim community having around 23 to 24 per cent of the 3.30 crore population. With Munshi now submitting her report, the last minute discussions are going on to see if they will be able to zero down on one name, and a top party source said the decision could come very soon.