A ‘witch-hunt’ has started in Kerala’s Congress in the context of its realisation that the results of the 16th lok Sabha election in the State, for which polling in the 20 seats was held on April 10, may not be on the expected lines and that the party and the UDF it leads may lose several of the seats it was hoping to win.
One such major witch-hunt has been staged in the Alappuzha constituency where Union Minister KC Venugopal, accused of having dubious connections with con woman Saritha S Nair, chief perpetrator of the infamous solar scam, seems to be set for a defeat despite the winning margin of 57,635 votes he had amassed in the 2009 election.
AA Shukoor, Alappuzha district Congress president, has submitted a report to the Pradesh Congress Committee saying that AICC secretary and former State Women’s Congress president Shanimol Usman, who had wanted to contest the Alappuzha seat, had tried to defeat Venugopal by remaining inactive in electioneering.
“Certain evil forces had tried to defeat Venugopal. I don’t want to mention any particular name at this stage. But all the details including the names will come up for discussion in the KPCC,” Shukoor told the media even as the District Congress Committee felt that senior leader D Sugathan and PCC member CR Jayaprakash had also worked against the party candidate.
Shanimol, whose name was in the reckoning for the Alappuzha seat in the initial stages of selection of candidates, said she did not want to belittle herself by replying to Shukoor’s allegation. “I have been active not only in Alappuzha but in other parts of the State and outside it because of my position,” she said.
The party had earlier thought of not giving ticket to Venugopal because of his alleged connection with Saritha Nair, which some senior leaders had thought was potent enough to ensure his defeat particularly in the context of the opposition from the SNDP Yogam, outfit of the Hindu lower caste Ezhavas who were a big force in the constituency.
However, the seat was ultimately given to Venugopal allegedly because of group equations — which determine all important affairs in the State Congress. “It is nothing but a witch-hunt. It was indeed a big mistake not to field Shanimol. If Venugopal loses, it is up to the party which made him candidate despite the negative factors to explain it,” said a senior DCC member.
Observers are of the opinion that Shukoor and a section in the Congress party are taking “anticipatory bail” as they are convinced that Venugopal is not going to make it to the lok Sabha from Alappuzha. “They are searching for scapegoats. The move is not just against Shanimol. There are some other senior leaders in the Shukoor hit-list,” said a local journalist.
At the same time, the district Congress Committee in Pathanamthitta has reported to the PCC leadership that 95 per cent of the ward committees of the party in Pathanamthitta constituency where Congress’s Anto Antony was the UDF candidate had remained inactive during electioneering. The DCC chief had earlier expelled two leaders for working against Anto.
Sources in the Congress say that the leadership is committing the mistake of trying to find scapegoats instead of looking for the real cause of the poll setback the party is possibly going to face. According to them, the party should be analyzing the actual factors, including the charges against the UDF Government, instead of going for a witch-hunt.