Will the battle to become CM before the elections become the biggest difficulty for Kerala Congress?

Congress’s spirits are high after 10 years of anti-incumbency, better performance in the Lok Sabha elections and now the victory in the civic elections in Kerala. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is hopeful that this time it will oust the Left’s Pinarayi Vijayan government. Its effect is also visible among Congress leaders. Many leaders have already started presenting themselves as contenders for the post of Chief Minister and due to this, mutual differences have also started. Due to many claimants, it may not happen that the situation like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka happens.

Congress, which is facing leadership conflict in many states, has suffered losses due to this. In Punjab, the fight between Captain Amarinder and Navjot Singh Sidhu was public and the party had to face defeat. In Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia had toppled Kamal Nath’s government and joined BJP. In Chhattisgarh, T S Singh Deo had repeatedly clashed with the then CM Bhupesh Baghel. The clash between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot was seen in Rajasthan. After the rebellion in Himachal Pradesh at the behest of Vikramaditya Singh, the Congress Party was barely able to save its government. There are continuous clashes taking place in Karnataka also. Now such a situation seems to be developing in Kerala even before the elections.

Candidates for the chair should be fielded before victory

It is said about Congress Organization General Secretary KC Venugopal that he actually runs the party due to his closeness to Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. He comes from Kerala and has been elected MP from Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat of Kerala for the third time. In the last few days, he has suddenly become increasingly active in Kerala. He is meeting the local people and even presenting their views before the parliamentary committees. In such a situation, it is being said that he is also busy strengthening his claim.

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According to reports, KC Venugopal wants to declare himself as the CM candidate before the elections and is willing to contest the elections on his own face. Senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan also considers himself a contender. At the same time, Ramesh Chennithala is one of the senior most leaders of Congress in Kerala. Shashi Tharoor, who recently managed to mend his relations with the Congress party, is also an old Congressman and has been continuously winning elections from Thiruvananthapuram. Apart from these four, there are also leaders like former Kerala Congress President K Sudhakaran and K Murali Dharan, but now these leaders are being left behind in the race of big leaders.

Whose claim is stronger?

If we look at the activism and other matters in the Assembly, the biggest one is V.D. Satishan. Anyway, the leader of the opposition in the House is considered the future CM candidate, hence his claim can be seen to be the strongest. He has said many times that he will lead the party to victory and if he is unable to do so, he will go into exile. In fact, Satheesan’s role has been very important in the recent civic elections, Kerala by-elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, hence he is being considered far ahead in the race.

Satheesan, who replaced Ramesh Chennithala as the Leader of Opposition in 2021, is a five-time MLA from Paravur seat in Kochi district. He does not hesitate in expressing his views on many issues beyond the party, due to which his image has been created as a strong leader. Being an excellent orator, he conveys the vision of Congress well from assembly to public meetings. Another plus point with him is that he is 61 years old and younger than KC Venugopal, 63, and Ramesh Chennithala, 69.

Also read: Dream of becoming CM, Tharoor and Venugopal will not be able to contest elections due to this rule of Congress?

Will age come in the way of Ramesh Chennithala?

Ramesh Chennithala, who had been eyeing the post of CM of Kerala for a long time, became MLA for the first time at the age of just 28. At the same time, he also became a minister in K Karunakaran’s government. He was also the Home Minister of Kerala from 2014 to 2016 in the government of Oman Chandy. Became MP four times, MLA five times, been President of Kerala Congress, leader of opposition but till date has not reached the chair of CM.

Now it seems age is weakening his claim. Last time his claim was very strong but then the Congress party led UDF could not win the elections. In such a situation, now Ramesh Chennithala may want it but his claim is no longer that strong.

Apart from these prominent leaders, Shashi Tharoor is also considered to be in the race. Recently, his meeting with Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge tried to convey the message that everything is fine now. However, an obstacle in the way of Venugopal and Shashi Tharoor could be that recently the Congress had indicated that Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha MPs will not be contesting the elections. In this matter also, KC Venugopal can play because he has said that the Chief Minister will be selected after the elections by the winning MLAs and the party high command.

However, one thing is certain in all this that if these leaders concentrate more on setting their own stakes rather than on the victory of Congress and UDF in the elections, then the opposition will get a chance and the victory may also be lost.