THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress Working Committee member A K Antony is taking a firm grip of the state party. He had an unceremonious exit from the state in 2004 when he was replaced in the middle of his tenure by Oommen Chandy. Sources in Congress say he still nurses a grouse.
Antony was in the state for four days attending programmes in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, and interestingly he took to attacking the CPM directly, rather than the BJP or speaking on national politics, as expected of him in his position as number two in the party. Antony, sources said, insisted at the Karunakaran centenary celebrations recently that both P K Kunhalikutty and K M Mani be present with him.
This was to remove the bad blood in the alliance partners towards him owing to the recent fiasco in the Rajya Sabha seat allocation. Antony, being a shrewd politician, knows for getting a proper foothold in the state, he needs the support of powerful UDF partners, Muslim League and KC (M).
Antony is aware of the huge goodwill he enjoys in the state; something no Congress leader can match. Sources indicated with Rahul Gandhi moving towards Gen Next in the party, Antony does not want to cling on in Delhi.
He wants to be active and knows his turf is Kerala. And both the I-group leadership and alliance partners are happy to associate with him, as he is respected by Sonia and Rahul as he can get anything done in the party.
He, according to sources, has indicated whenever he led elections in the state, the UDF got a good margin. For instance, in 1996, the UDF got 59 seats to LDF’s 80 with a lead of 21 seats for LDF, while in 2001 UDF got 99 and LDF 40, bringing the UDF to power with a 59-seat lead. During Oommen Chandy’s period, the UDF got 42 seats and the LDF 98, and in 2011, when the UDF came to power, it got 72 seats while the LDF got 68, a lead of only 4 seats. Antony is driving home the point that he is the mass leader who can garner votes and seats, and not Chandy.
However, Chandy said there is no bad blood between the two leaders. Speaking to Express over phone, Chandy said, “Antony is an asset to our party and a respected leader. We are very close. There is no problem between us. Of course, he has met our workers and leaders to lift their morale.” With the Congress in Kerala in a flux, Antony will anoint his close confidant Mullappally Ramachandran as KPCC president and run the show from behind the curtains.