Cong. leadership meeting in New Delhi ahead of organisational revamp to make party election-ready

The reconstituted Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leadership will submit a proposal to the national leadership for further restructuring the party from the District Congress Committee (DCC) level and upwards. 

The newly appointed KPCC leaders have made a beeline for New Delhi to hold closed-door meetings with All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday. 

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan told The Hindu that the accent was on creating a rainbow coalition of leaders from different socio-religious backgrounds to marshal diverse sections of society under the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) banner. He said the KPCC hoped to complete the restructuring process by August, three months ahead of the local body polls in November-December. 

A party insider said the Congress identified the rise of identity politics in Kerala as a threat to its electoral prospects. The KPCC worried that the perceived shift, even among some Christian denominations, could offer a springboard for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) electoral ambitions, perhaps at significant cost to the UDF.

Top Congress sources said a collective matrix of leadership by proactive party functionaries from diverse social backgrounds and with bridge-building skills with various communities could help mitigate the “electorally portentous” shift from broad-based party politics, especially among the UDF’s traditional support bases in northern and central Kerala. 

Congress insiders said the second phase of the KPCC reorganisation would trend towards the younger demographic. “Ideally, the AICC wants DCC office-bearers to actively involve themselves with the electorate and act as easily accessible public symbols with good social networking skills. The concept is to render the KPCC an expansive and accommodating tent for all social groups,” he said.

The AICC has also cracked the whip on performative trends among a section of top leadership, subtly broadcasting a message of dissent against the reorganisation process to the rank-and-file, including their loyalists.

The KPCC has asked its top office-bearers to tour districts and settle the party’s factional issues at the local level. They will also spearhead the voters’ enrolment drive, registration of new voters, and the party’s door-to-door campaign.