There is a peculiar political scenario in Kerala these days. The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), on a day-to-day basis, is giving ample opportunities to the Congress-led Opposition to put it on the spot, thanks to a bevy of lapses and shortcomings on its part. But the Congress, for reasons best known to it, is turning all these opportunities into self-goal moments.
The latest is the controversy about installing Artificial Intelligence cameras across the state to identify traffic violators. Senior Congress leader and former Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala raised corruption allegations against the AI project for the first time. He did several press conferences where he presented various pieces of evidence to prove his point. As if to be included, the current Opposition leader, V D Satheesan, also started doing press conferences on the same subject. With both deciding to target the government separately on the same subject, the rivalry between them eventually caught the public’s attention. The United Democratic Front (UDF) allies are also not very happy with how an opportunity has been turned into a slugfest between two senior leaders.
Added to this is the need for coordination within the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and the inexcusable delay in party restructuring, which has left the party organisation more or less dormant. Significantly, all these events are happening at a time when the BJP is doing everything possible to win over certain communities that have been loyal vote banks of the Congress ever since the state’s formation. Congress leaders should realise that the age of bipolar politics is gone in Kerala and that the BJP, even though it has not won a seat since 2016, is quite a force to reckon with. It should also remember that every extra vote the BJP earns in the state is more likely to be from the Congress’ kitty than the Left’s. It is a fact that the Congress did win the bypoll in the Thrikkakara constituency by a huge margin, but it should not forget that Thrikkakara has always been its strongest bastion and that there were multiple factors, including sympathy votes. The rest of Kerala is not Thrikkakara, and the earlier the Congress realises this, the better it will be for the party. Its leaders should understand that they must stay united to fight old and new challenges, not pull each other down, as has been the practice.
