After talks on LS candidates ended, Kerala Congress tried to take advantage of the anti-incumbency sentiment

On Friday, notwithstanding the uncertainties surrounding the finalization of candidates in a few seats, Congress election strategist Sunil Kanugolu met with party leaders. During the discussion, Kanugolu pushed leaders to emphasize the opposition to the LDF government’s tenure while running for the next Lok Sabha elections.

The meeting of the senior brass took place at Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan’s official house at Cantonment House on Thursday after the conclusion of the ‘Samaragni’ yatra. It continued into the early hours of Friday. Sunil Kanugolu and K C Venugopal, the organization’s national general secretary, were present at the meeting. Kanugolu had already conferred with Jignesh Mevani, a member of the screening committee, and Harish Chaudhary, the body’s chairman. A top Congressman informed TNIE that they had selected the nominees for 15 seats, leaving out Alappuzha, where Venugopal is most likely to run.

The AICC Central Election Authority now has the last say on candidate names, thus that was not discussed during the midnight meeting. The topic of discussion during the meeting was election campaign tactics. According to a senior Congress official, Kanugolu encouraged the leadership to take advantage of the state’s anti-incumbency sentiment.

Despite convincing a reluctant Congress state president K Sudhakaran to defend his Kannur seat, steering committee leaders Deepa Dasmunshi and Perumal Viswanath, the AICC general secretary and secretary in charge of the state, respectively, nonetheless caused him discomfort. According to a close source close to Sudhakaran, TNIE, he was nervous about seeing Kannur people because he was afraid of their reaction since he had neglected his constituency while ill.

“In Kannur, the Congress central leadership is not thinking about a Sudhakaran substitute. According to a party source, the leadership believes he is the only viable contender in Kannur, which is otherwise a CPM stronghold.

All eyes are now on the federal election administration to see whether they would make any hurried alterations to the 16 seats that the Congress is running for. When selecting the final candidates, the party’s central leadership is supposed to make sure that there is a balance between the various communities represented by at least two women, one member of a minority group, and two Ezhava candidates. Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy would only be formally revealed a few days before to the submission of nomination papers, according to a source.

polling techniques

The discussion focused on tactics to be used when running for office.

The central leadership believes that Sudhakaran is the only viable candidate in Kannur, a region that is traditionally a CPM bastion.