When to quit 'hand' to carry sickle and hammer

Congress leadership not just in Kerala but also at the national level need to walk an extra mile to keep up with the fast-changing mindsets of its leaders if at all the grand old party wants to get rid of further embarrassments. Congress' dilemmas need to be addressed head-on, writes Sreejith Balakrishnan.

Hyderabad: Seventeen years ago during the Lok Sabha election in Kerala, CPM was busy exploring the possibilities of a candidate at Manjeri constituency, which is a part of the Malappuram district, an impenetrable fort of the Indian Union Muslim League. Till then IUML had not allowed anyone to win from Manjeri ever since the formation of the constituency. CPM had one and only choice — TK Hamsa, a former Malappuram DCC president, who had joined hands with the CPM after differences with veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran.

Hamsa had won all the elections till then and was considered a firebrand leader. Though sceptics doubted the chances of Hamsa's victory in a constituency like Manjeri where IUML fielded its tall leader K P A Majeed, CPM believed Hamsa's charisma and his ability to tame IUML and Congress in a place like Malappuram could swing the verdict in its favour.

When the election results came out Hamsa comfortably won the seat with a majority of 47,745 votes. He was an invincible bet for the CPM in Malappuram since 1982 and has had won many Assembly elections on the CPM ticket. Hamsa and Malappuram are the new learning lesson for the CPM.

Hamsa's lone surge in Malappuram helped CPM to widen its base in Malappuram. CPM started to welcome those who left Congress or IUML wholeheartedly. Young IUML leader KT Jaleel in 2006, PV Anwar and V Abdurahiman in 2016 became part of CPM and are still part of the government. Jaleel became a minister in 2016 and Abdurahiman joined the cabinet in Pinarayi 2.0. It was political gambling that CPM took with rich dividends in places the party would have otherwise had little hope.

From Cheriyan Philip to MS Viswanathan
Most of the leaders who left their parent party to join the CPM continue to be active participants/supporters of the LDF government in Kerala. Shobhana George, who was three-time Congress MLA, Shahida Kamal, who was once a Congress candidate, Adv. Philipose Thomas, who joined CPM, continues to be an active member of CPM and work along with the LDF government. Cheriyan Philip, who joined CPM much ahead of these leaders continues to live in the AKG centre till now and has recently expressed his gratitude to the party for giving a room for him at the party headquarters and letting him live there ever since he left Congress.

The latest inter-party riot in Congress started with the DCC president selection in Kerala. Just ahead of that, during the Assembly polls, a senior Congress leader from Wayanad and former KPCC vice president, KC Rosakutty, clashed with the party leadership for not giving her a ticket to contest from Wayanad and decided to co-operate with the CPM. After that MS Visanathan, senior Congress leader from Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad resigned from Congress and joined CPM. LDF fielded him from Wayanad as their candidate after he joined CPM. Congress leaders in Kerala had to struggle a lot to defend the decisions of the party, as these leaders had resigned and joined CPM from their leader Rahul Gandhi's own constituency.

NCP first choice for ex-Congressmen
When Congress leaders from other states in India consider BJP as the better alternative to build their political career while leaving the party, Congress leaders from Kerala looked up to Nationalist Congress Party as a viable alternative till recently. The move of PC Chacko, a senior Congress leader and a confidante of Sonia Gandhi, to leave Congress for NCP in Kerala, prompted others also to follow suit. After PC Chacko, Women Congress former state president Latika Subash, senior Congress leader from Kozhikode Suresh Babu and KT Michel from Idukki left Congress and joined NCP. The impression of the Kerala civil society towards BJP as a political party is the main reason why the leaders prefer to distance themselves from BJP. The heavy defeat BJP suffered in the last Assembly elections also fuelled the hesitation of ex-Congress leaders to take the road to Mararji Bhavan.

However, for cleverer ex-Congressmen, NCP's limitations in Kerala were more than evident and when the leading political party in the state, the CPM kept its doors open with red shawls stacked up in its cabin, leaders like K P Anil Kumar had very little to think about before signalling his driver to turn to AKG centre in Thiruvananthapuram. CPM state secretary Vijayaraghavan and former state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan were available at the party headquarters with unfolded red shawls to welcome Anil Kumar, marking the beginning of a new political culture and vote bank tactics in Kerala's political battlefield.

Though the CPM had welcomed leaders like T K Hamsa and used him successfully before, the new joinings have no parallel. In party parlance, it could be the latest 'acquisitions' sans money but a lot of minds thrown behind. Even the CPM central leaders worked to get Anil Kumar and Rathi Kumar to CPM, a big blow to the Congress party in Kerala, which is propagating a resurrection under the new leadership of K Sudhakaran and VD Satheeshan. It should be noted that both the latest resignations from Congress, had only criticised the new state leadership, and were empathetic towards senior leaders like Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala.

CPM could score a couple of political brownie points here, to establish that the new leadership is dictatorial in nature and the Congress party would not be able to revive its lost charm in Kerala. It also fanned the feelings of the Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala supporters, who believe that both these tall leaders had been sidelined completely, despite their rich contributions to the growth of the party in Kerala.

All said and done, BJP is not completely out of the radar for ex-Congressmen. A V Gopinath, former Congress MLA and former Palakkad DCC president, who clashed with the party and resigned recently is still keeping his options open. He is aware of the strong presence of BJP in Palakkad and Malampuzha constituencies and is likely to take a call based on the offer extended to him by BJP.

'Outsiders' take front-seat in CPM
All those who follow the cadre party network of CPM know that it is not easy to get a CPM party membership. Anyone who wishes to work with CPM would first become a group member, then a candidate member and prove their worth before getting a party membership. It may take several years for one to become a party member and they again continue at the party branch committee and local committee for several more years. But contrary to this, CPM is spreading out a red carpet welcome to those who come from other parties and offer them positions in the party or in the government organisations. This is going to be a big issue for discussions as CPM party conferences are all set to begin. CPM state leadership will have a tough time justifying the offers to the 'outsiders' when they answer to the angst of their loyal cadre during the party conferences.

When Lok Sabha polls are about to come soon, CPM would be looking to use KP Anil Kumar, former KPCC general secretary who joined CPM recently, against present Congress MP, MK Raghavan at Kozhikode and G Rathi Kumar against Kodikunnil Suresh at Mavelikkara.

Congress' dilemmas
Though KPCC president K Sudhakaran and Opposition Leader V D Satheeshan have managed to put up a brave face before the media, claiming that such resignations would not have any impact on Congress in Kerala, they are surely worried about a possible trend of such leaders leaving the party. They used the example of K Karunakaran, one of the tallest leaders of the Congress party in India, who had gone out and formed the Democratic Indira Congress to drive home the point that such rebellions meant nothing for the foundation of the party in Kerala.

But these leaders are aware that a mere verbal exercise won't settle the problem and questions would surely arise against their leadership qualities sooner or later. So they are burning their midnight oil, convincing rebel leaders not to quit the party. It is not easy for them to justify the resignations of senior leaders, who stood by the party through thick and thin all these years. For those who leave Congress, things are a bit more clearer as they would have to analyse the future of the grand old party both in state and at the national level along with their political career as a point of reference, the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the possible positions the present government could offer them when they join CPM.

The present Congress leadership will have to walk an extra mile to keep up with the fast-changing mindsets of their leaders if at all it wants to get rid of further embarrassments.