KOCHI: Declaring a short ceasefire in the group war as part of the Youth Congress organisational polls, the young Turks of the Congress in Kerala have now embarked on a move to put a united fight to get more representation for young faces as candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
In the 2014 elections, Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose was the lone candidate from the second generation leaders. Dean, who lost in Idukki LS seat, is now a top contender. The young leaders are of a view AICC chief Rahul Gandhi will allocate a good representation for youth and woman leaders as he is focused on a generation shift for the grand old party.
“We will approach the KPCC leadership seeking more representation for fresh faces as candidates. Our move is intended to garner maximum representation for young leaders irrespective of group and other factors,” Dean told Express.
Dean, All India Professional Congress state president Mathew Kuzhalnadan and C R Mahesh are among the prominent names doing the rounds ahead of the official talks which are yet to commence within the Congress party. Meanwhile, there are speculations a few young sitting MLAs, including Shafi Parambil and Hibi Eden would be fielded as LS candidates considering their ‘winnability’.
“In 2009, K Sudhakaran who was Kannur MLA, was fielded as a candidate from the Kannur LS seat. The same happened in Alappuzha, where K C Venugopal was an MLA and in Ernakulam, where K V Thomas was an MLA. If the High Command directs, the MLAs will contest. We feel in the national level too, the Congress may pull out some prominent MLAs to contest the Lok Sabha polls in May next year. There should not be any separate norm for Kerala,” said an ‘I’ group leader.
The KPCC leadership which is now focused on the revamp of the organisation has not begun any discussions regarding the LS candidates though the party has commenced grassroot-level preparations. “Anyway, one thing is sure.
The youths and women leaders would get more representation this time,” said another leader, citing the party could not accommodate all the young leaders in an immediate move. “In the recent years, youths got a maximum representation in the 2011 Assembly polls and thus the party got young legislators. Gradually, this shift would be completed,” he said.
All set for a makeover
Dean Kuriakose, Mathew Kuzhalnadan and C R Mahesh are among the prominent names doing the rounds ahead of the official talks which are yet to commence within the Congress.