THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though the high command has succeeded in bringing a truce in the state Congress leadership, the real test lies in the performance of the party and UDF in the local body poll.
If Congress is able to win a majority of local bodies, including the six corporations, the state leadership could hold its head high before the high command. Even if the results turn out to be 50:50 for both fronts or give a slight edge to the LDF, then all hell would break loose in the state leadership.
The high command views the poll as the decisive battle, political commentator Sreekumar Manayil told TNIE. “The ‘strongmen’ in state Congress will lie low for the time being as they are in a disadvantageous position. If the party suffers a setback in the LSG polls, there will surely be a bay for blood,” he said.
However, senior leaders who have distanced themselves from groups, young leaders, and those in the lower-middle order have welcomed the intervention of the AICC.
“There was total anarchy in the organisation,” a senior leader who participated in the Delhi meeting told TNIE. “Some senior leaders who had the responsibility to act with utmost decorum were acting as if they had something to conquer.
If eight or ten leaders decide to keep quiet, half of the problems in the state Congress would end. As the high command has categorically dismissed the claims of CM probables, the aspirants will have to accept the reality and keep quiet till the election results are out,” he said.