V.M. Sudheeran’s resignation as KPCC president might not have anything to do with factional politics within the State unit of the party, but his decision to quit has achieved the purpose of the two factions which have been working towards his ouster without much success ever since the United Democratic Front and the Congress suffered its worst drubbing in the May Assembly elections.
It had become clear that Mr. Sudheeran’s continuation in office would soon become difficult after the party high command resignedly accepted the reality of factional politics in the Congress unit in Kerala. The induction of new District Congress Committee presidents clearly suggested the All India Congress Committee’s line of thinking on the issue of sticking to factional equations even while inducting young leaders.
Mr. Sudheeran was inducted with the specific purpose of curbing the factions. His attempts to control the government in his capacity as KPCC president only brought him into direct confrontation with the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. It began with their differences with the liquor policy, leading to the disputes over certain decisions that the government took at the fag end its term.
The tussle spilled over to the selection of candidates, with Mr. Sudheeran targeting some of Mr. Chandy’s close supporters like Benny Behanan and the then Ministers K.C. Joseph and K. Babu. The party high command which was decidedly against Mr. Chandy entrusted the affairs of the party to the trioka consisting of Mr. Chandy, Chennithala and Mr. Sudheeran.
Following the election defeat, the Congress got caught in a three-way tussle that made it difficult for the high command to fix responsibility. In fact, the party affairs went into limbo for several months, with all attempts of a patch-up being frustrated.
The party high command was forced to appoint a political affairs committee to handle the affairs and suggest a revamp formula. Even at that time, the AICC was not willing to disown Mr. Sudheeran who had been drafted for the KPCC president’s post by none other than Rahul Gandhi.
Mr. Chandy has been sulking ever since as he was the only leader who had to pay the price for the defeat. In order to get Mr. Sudheeran out of the way, Mr. Chandy had suggested a total organisational elections.
The party leadership had deferred a decision because of the Assembly elections to five States. The resignation will now bring out another round of tussle, with Mr. Chennithala now having an upper hand in the party affairs. How this will turn out for the Congress will depend on how the new KPCC president is going to be selected and who is going to be selected.
