Congress president Sonia Gandhi had recently warned party leaders and workers in Kerala against indulging in group activities but the list of candidates the party finalised on Thursday, for the 16th lok Sabha election, shows that everything is still determined on the basis of group affiliations in the State Congress.
The intensity of groupism has been so strong that PC Chacko, sitting MP and the person who worked overtime to protect the party and the UPA regime as the chief of the JPC on the 2G spectrum scam, had to run for cover for fear of factional ire. Chacko was forced to abandon his Thrissur seat to grab Chalakkudy from KP Dhanapalan, the sitting Congress MP there.
VM Sudheeran, whom Sonia Gandhi had appointed as Kerala PCC chief last month, had announced that there would be no group considerations this time while selecting candidates but it is now proven that he has not been able to disrupt the group equations. As a result, 11 of the 13 sitting Congress MPs from the State have earned tickets to contest the polls.
“It is not just that Sudheeran has failed to contain the influence of groupism but group managers have actually managed to enhance their influence. A group-neutral woman candidate had contested the Kasaragod seat in the last election but this time Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, leader of the A-group, managed to give it to his loyalist T Siddique,” said a group-neutral leader.
“One of the two sitting MPs who could not make it into the list was PT Thomas (Idukki), but his group leader Chandy has succeeded in awarding that seat to State Youth Congress president Dean Kuriakose, a stauncher loyalist,” he said, adding that the other group manager, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala of I-group, was also able to look after the interests of his loyalists.
N Peethambara Kurup, sitting MP from Kollam, could not get a re-nomination primarily because of the allegation he faced of sexually harassing film actress Shwetha Menon but Congressmen close to him say that he was dumped because there was nobody to speak for him. Also, the Kollam seat has already been handed over to the RSP which joined the UDF last Sunday.
“If Kurup was dropped for immoral behavior, what about (Union Minister) KC Venugopal who has been selected to contest in his seat, Alappuzha, even when he is charged with unholy links with con woman Saritha S Nair (chief perpetrator of the infamous solar scam)IJ” asked a district Congress committee member from Kollam. “It is all a matter of having group support,” he said.
KPCC sources said that the Congress high command had not even feel the need of discussing the re-nomination of sitting MPs Shashi Tharoor and KV Thomas, both Union Ministers, from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam respectively though they did not belong to either of the two groups. They said the Kerala leaders seemed to be afraid of discussing about them.
leaders in Kerala aired happiness at the decision to field two woman candidates this time: State women’s Congress president Bindu Krishna (Attingal) and student leader KS Sheeba (Alathur). In the 2009 election, the Congress had fielded only one woman, Shahida Kamal, in the unwinnable Kasaragod seat prompting critics of groupism to describe her as a sacrificial lamb.
However, the biggest talking point over the candidates’ list is the transfer of Chacko from Thrissur. Dhanapalan, who lost Chalakkudy to Chacko, expressed sadness saying that the decision pained him very much. However, he took a dig at Chacko with his statement, “I should admit that I cannot contest in the seat of my choice as I am no national leader.”