Congress Accelerates Preparations for Kerala Assembly Elections by Forming Media Committee
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Synopsis
With over 15 months until Kerala's Assembly elections, Congress has formed a media panel, aiming to enhance collaboration with the state committee amidst ongoing factional disputes.
Key Takeaways
- Congress forms media committee for Kerala elections.
- Mohan Kumaramangalam leads the new team.
- Ongoing factionalism within the Kerala unit.
- Top brass warned against indiscipline.
- Committee aims to unify media operations.
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, March 18 (NationPress) With over 15 months remaining until the elections for the 140-member Kerala Legislative Assembly, the Congress party's leadership has established a committee of their leaders to ensure seamless collaboration with the state committee for effective media operations.
This committee, aimed at enhancing cooperation with the Kerala party unit, is led by senior leader Mohan Kumaramangalam, who serves as the national media coordinator. It includes two coordinators, Lavanya Ballal Jain and Gautam Seth, along with research coordinators Smit Singh and George Kurian.
The Congress high command seems to have taken a more direct role in its Kerala unit, which has been grappling with ongoing factional disputes for an extended period.
Factionalism has a long history in the party, with leaders K. Karunakaran and A.K. Antony at the forefront of the two primary factions for nearly three decades starting from the 1970s. Following them, Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala led the two dominant factions.
With Chandy's health problems in 2020 and his subsequent passing, the faction was left without leadership.
After Pinarayi Vijayan made electoral history by being the first government in the state to win a second term (in 2021), the Congress party found itself in turmoil, mistakenly confident of a victory. This defeat intensified the internal strife.
K. Sudhakaran then assumed the role of state party president, while V.D. Satheesan became the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. However, despite these new appointments, the factional disputes and public disagreements continued unabated.
Frustrated by the persistent infighting, the party’s top leadership from Kerala was summoned to Delhi earlier this month. The party high command issued a firm ultimatum, declaring that indiscipline would not be tolerated.
Following this meeting, the Congress party decided to establish a committee that will collaborate closely with the state party unit. This committee will guarantee coordinated efforts in managing media-related activities.
