Congress has released its second list for the Kerala Assembly elections, which includes the names of 37 candidates. With this, the party has so far announced its candidates on 92 out of total 140 seats.
In this entire selection process, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and General Secretary K.C. Venugopal’s imprint is clearly visible. If reports are to be believed behind the scenes, there was a huge diplomatic stir in Delhi regarding the distribution of tickets, in which meetings that went on till after midnight decided the final list.
India Today, quoting sources, has written in one of its reports that an unusual meeting was held at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday night. This meeting started at 10:30 pm and continued till 2:30 am. When an attempt was made to know the reasons for this meeting, it was found that Rahul Gandhi was not satisfied with the Congress list. After this a meeting was called late at night.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was dissatisfied with the initial names given by the Kerala unit. He clarified that the distribution of tickets should not be based only on the recommendations of the state unit, but on the basis of caste equation, electoral performance and ground feedback. He had sought a more systematic and data-based presentation before the Central Election Committee (CEC).
Dominance of KC Venugopal camp
Internal analysis of ticket distribution shows that party’s organization general secretary KC Venugopal has the upper hand. There is talk within the party that about 60 percent of the declared candidates are considered close to Venugopal. There were names of 55 candidates in the first list. This includes 17 from the Venugopal camp, 9 from the Ramesh Chennithala camp and V.D. Five supporters of Satheeshan got place.
Shashi Tharoor’s role?
Senior leader Shashi Tharoor took a different stance in this entire process. According to reports, he kept himself away from the process instead of advocating for his supporters. Of the party’s 22 sitting MLAs, 19 have been re-fielded, showing confidence in continuity and experience.
Congress’s social engineering
Considering the complex demography of Kerala, Congress has resorted to social engineering. Of the 92 candidates, there are 22 Christians. Of them, 10 candidates come from the Syro-Malabar community. There are 21 candidates from Nair community. It is an influential upper caste community of Kerala. 20 from Ezhava have got a chance. This is a big vote bank of backward classes. Congress has also fielded 12 Muslims. Apart from this, tickets have also been given to three Brahmins. The party has given priority to young leadership, with 52 of the 92 candidates below the age of 50.
Demand of MPs rejected
Of. Veteran Congress MPs like Sudhakaran, Adoor Prakash and Shafi Parambil were keen to contest the assembly elections. However, the high command stopped them in clear words. Rahul Gandhi argued that if MPs were allowed to contest the elections, it would lead to by-elections in many Lok Sabha seats. Also, this may create confusion among the voters regarding the face of the post of Chief Minister. However, there have also been indications within the party that if Congress gets majority, the names of MPs may be considered at the time of selection of the Chief Minister.
Dissatisfaction emerged over women’s representation
Despite these efforts, the party is facing allegations of ‘gender imbalance’. Congress spokesperson Shama Mohammed has publicly expressed disappointment. Appealing to Rahul Gandhi for intervention on social media (X), he said that giving tickets to only 9 women out of 92 shows the party’s apathy.