Congress factions in Kerala ‘wishcasting’ for their respective loyalists as KPCC president’s post comes up for grabs

Powerful factions in the Congress in Kerala are seemingly indulging in a potentially virulent game of “wishcasting” by actively promoting the names of their respective group loyalists for the upcoming post of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president.

The field appeared open for another season of intense intra-party manoeuvring, close on the heels of the convulsions that gripped the party over the Chief Minister’s post, with the current incumbent KPCC president Sunny Joseph, MLA, joining the government. Mr. Joseph’s new responsibility has made his continued tenure as the KPCC president untenable, given the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) “one-man-one-post-stricture.”

A Congress insider said the AICC seemed resolved to prevent the current jockeying for the KPCC president’s post from backsliding into a self-destructive circular firing squad at a crucial time when the “Team-UDF” seeks to cast the Left Democratic Front (LDF), still smarting from its historic defeat, as the alliance in disarray. 

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Kodikunnil Suresh told The Hindu that the AICC was yet to set a deadline for the “inevitable” KPCC reorganisation. He said AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunsi will likely initiate the process at the earliest, and the reorganisation exercise in Kerala would possibly run concurrently with similar organisational rejigs in Tamil Nadu and Assam, among other States. 

A high bar

According to another senior Congress leader, the party’s High Command has reportedly set a high bar for the next KPCC president. He claimed that social demographics, ensuring caste and communal balance in selection, and merit would matter paramountly. “The AICC also seems acutely aware that rifts between the elected political executive and the KPCC leadership had hamstrung past UDF governments and it was loath to squander the current public goodwill,” he added.

Also up for grabs are the posts of two KPCC working presidents, A.P. Anilkumar and P.C. Vishnunadh, who have sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.

Reorganisation of YC

Congress insiders said the AICC might also undertake a total reorganisation of the Youth Congress (YC) to outpace past scandals, including those centred on former Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil and the collection of funds for Wayanad rehabilitation. Notably, the current incumbent, O.J. Janeesh, has joined the Cabinet. 

Importantly, the AICC has to nominate another senior leader to handle organisational affairs in Maharashtra, given that Ramesh Chennithala, who was in charge of the State’s PCC affairs, assumed office as the Home Minister.