Four sitting MPs’ keenness to contest Assembly polls puts Congress in a spot in Kerala

With four of its sitting MPs insisting on contesting the upcoming Assembly elections, the Congress’s intent to hit the ground running on the electioneering front with a quick list of candidates has suffered a jolt. 

A poster war is under way, placing the party on a sticky wicket, as former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran; UDF convener Adoor Prakash; CWC special invitee and eight-time MP Kodikkunnil Suresh; and Kozhikode MP M.K. Raghavan have expressed their desire to contest, according to a senior party leader. 

Posters supporting Mr. Sudhakaran and Mr. Prakash have sparked speculation even as the central leadership of the party has been reiterating its stance that sitting MPs should desist from contesting the Assembly polls.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is reported to have summoned Mr. Sudhakaran, who has had a prickly relationship with the party leadership over the past year, to Delhi on March 16 to categorically ask him not to contest. 

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan on Saturday told reporters that the issue would be resolved by the party high command. “How many times have I said before that the high command will decide it?” a visibly irritated Mr. Satheesan asked.

He sought to downplay Mr. Sudhakaran’s Facebook post recalling his emotional bond with Kannur. He said Mr. Sudhakaran had disavowed the post when he spoke to him the previous day, though he was unsure if the stance had since changed. Mr. Satheesan suggested that the CPI(M) might be behind the posters in his constituency, North Paravur, demanding Mr. Sudhakaran’s candidature.

At the heart of the unrest brewing in Congress’s Pathanamthitta district unit is a proposed move by the State leadership to field candidates from outside the constituencies and, in some cases, from outside the district.

Senior leaders unhappy

The Congress has been hoping to regain lost ground in the district and the local leadership has demanded to be heard before finalising candidates. Senior leaders, including P.J. Kurien and Anto Antony, are also learnt to be unhappy with the present moves.

DCC general secretary and former Adoor municipal chairperson Babu Divakaran, who was expecting to be fielded from the Adoor constituency, fired the first salvo against the party leadership. On Friday, he resigned from the party, registering his protest against an ‘outsider’ being chosen to contest.  

In Aranmula, posters opposing Abin Varkey’s candidature have appeared widely, even as the Congress leadership seems determined to field him. In Ranni, Rinku Cherian, who was hoping for another chance after narrowly missing victory last time, has also come out strongly against the proposal to field KPCC general secretary Pazhakulam Madhu instead. 

Community factor

Those backing Mr. Cherian’s candidature have also raised the issue of community representation. “Of the five seats in Pathanamthitta, one is allocated to the Kerala Congress. Of the remaining four, one is reserved for the Scheduled Caste communicty. If a Christian candidate from Pathanamthitta district is not considered for the other three seats, how will Christians in the district be represented in the Assembly?” a leader asked. 

Meanwhile, there’s opposition to the proposal to field Satish Kochuparambil, DCC president, from Konni.