The Kerala Congress (M) which had been pursuing the possibility of a political realignment that would take the party to a higher growth trajectory appears to have put the subject on the back burner.
The general sentiment at a meeting of party leaders here on Monday evening was that the time was not ripe to think about such a realignment at present.
“None of the senior leaders even talked about the issue in the meeting,” said a KC(M) insider who preferred to remain anonymous.
Senior leaders and office-bearers down to Assembly segment committee presidents participated in Monday’s meeting. While not saying it in so many words, the party leadership felt that the counter offensive from the Congress, especially Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, had defused the issues that the party was trying to highlight.
Title deed issue“The title deeds issue is not as critical as it was earlier, following the new policy declared by the UDF government. The liquor policy issue, which was expected to snowball into a major crisis, has taken an altogether different colour, from which our own party cannot wash its hands of. Even an issue like the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University has been fulfilled as per the party’s desire,” sources said.
The party leaders appear to be more concerned about the outcome of a shift in allegiance to the Left at this juncture, since the situation there too seems to be in a flux following the new tactical and strategic initiatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Of course, chief ministership for K.M. Mani is part of the thinking on realignment, but it is only the icing on the cake. The real issue is the opportunities for further growth of the party,” the insider said.
The footprints of the KC(M) and the Congress have been increasingly overlapping in the Central Travancore Christian belt and if the party happens to remain in the UDF, an increasing number of friendly contests cannot be ruled out.
