'The fiscal situation is extremely vulnerable. It has never been so bad in Kerala's history.'
As the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala gave the impression that it had kept groupism and Shashi Tharoor aside came Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee President Palode Ravi's leaked phone conversation.
In the phone conversation, Ravi spoke about the possibility of the CPI-M Left Democratic Front returning to power in 2026, the BJP gaining considerably and the Congress faring poorly due to infighting and groupism. Ravi predicted that the Congress would come third in local body elections.
The leaked conversation embarrassed the Congress immensely and resulted in Ravi resigning as DCC president.
How will this affect the Congress and the UDF?
"We are going to expand the UDF's political base. More political parties, leaders and persons will join the UDF," Congress Legislature Party leader V D Satheesan, who is also leader of the Opposition in the Kerala assembly, tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff in the concluding segment of a two-part interview:
- Part 1 of the Interview: 'Coming Election Is Very Crucial For Congress'
Another major problem that the Congress is facing in Kerala is the Shashi Tharoor issue. How is the Congress party going to solve the Tharoor problem?
Like K Muraleedharan said, is Tharoor not acceptable to party workers?
I reserve my comment on that question because he (Tharoor
Has the party been affected by Tharoor praising Narendra Modi and also the LDF?
(Laughs) I have my own opinion on that, but I reserve my comments!!
We are doing well. We are preparing well. We are doing very good organisational work. All the leaders have taken up responsibilities and working hard.
You have been out of power for 10 years. How are you energising your party workers?
Yes, we have been out of power for 10 years.
Let me tell you something. You have seen the ruling party winning all the by-elections.
But see what happened in Kerala.
The first by-election was in Thrikkakara. We won the election by 25,000 votes as against the last general election which we won by only 12,000 votes.
This happened after the chief minister and the entire cabinet were there campaigning for one whole month.
Oommen Chandy had won the 2021 election from Puthupally by 9,000 votes. His son Chandy Oommen won the by-election in 2023 by 37,719 votes.
In Palakkad, Shafi Parambil had won the assembly election by less than 4,000 votes. After he vacated the seat necessitating a by-election, Rahul Mamkootathil won the seat by more than 18,000 votes.
And in the recent Nilambur by-election, our UDF candidate won by 11,000 votes which the LDF had won in 2021 by 3,000 votes.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the entire media wrote that Modi would come back with more than 400 seats. Even then, we won 18 out of 20 seats with wonderful margins.
In the local body by-elections also, we had won.
Now, we are working as a cadre party, rather, better than the cadre parties and making preparations for the coming elections.
That is as far as the organisational structure is concerned.
Other than that, our campaign is different this time.
Of course, there is anti-incumbency against the government.
We took up two issues recently. One is about health. We said the health of Kerala is in the ventilator.
The second issue is, higher education which is in a vulnerable state after the fights between the governor and the state government resulting in no vice chancellors in the universities, and no academic discussions. Hence, brain drain is happening from Kerala.
Since we have taken up these two issues, we are conducting a health conclave and a higher education conclave.
For the first time in India, an Opposition party is conducting health and education conclaves in a state.
While we expose the government for their failures, we are also presenting solutions to the problems and alternatives to the people of Kerala.
We are telling the people what our plans are for health, higher education, human-animal conflict, issues concerning coastal Kerala, price rise if we form the government.
Another major problem Kerala faces today is drugs. Kerala has become the drug capital in India now.
The fiscal situation is extremely vulnerable. It has never been so bad in Kerala's history.
So, we are focusing on many issues and offering solutions to these problems.
We are not just exposing the failure of the LDF government but presenting solutions also.
How important is December's local body election?
It is very important and we have already started our preparations.
Will it not be an indicator on what we can expect in the 2026 assembly election?
Definitely. The results of the local body election will be an indicator of the assembly election in 2026.
Another important news I want to share is we are going to expand the UDF's political base.
More political parties, leaders and persons will join the UDF.
I am not ready to disclose the details of any parties or leaders. But I can confidently say that there will be a surprise waiting before the local body elections.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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