KOTTAYAM: Even when the team wins a hard-fought battle, its captain loses the game. This sums up the predicament of Kerala Congress (M) in the assembly election. While KC(M) won five out of 12 seats it contested, the defeat of chairman Jose K Mani in Pala came as a bitter pill for the party.
The KC(M), which parted ways with the UDF to join the LDF last October, won Changanassery, Kanjirappally, Poonjar, Ranni and Idukki seats. The thumping win by the CPM-led LDF in the elections showed Jose’s political acumen in reading political undercurrents.
However, in spite of the impressive victory, KC(M)’s unexpected setback in Pala with Jose losing to UDF candidate Mani C Kappen by a big margin of 15,378 votes will hurt him. “The big LDF win in the state proved that our decision was correct,” Jose told reporters, blaming his loss in Pala to the ‘vote trading’ by the BJP.
The party chairman’s loss has also created a confusion within the party whether to celebrate KC(M)’s spectacular performance or to mourn the defeat of the party boss.According to political observers, Jose faces a strange and unprecedented situation that none of the Kerala Congress leaders had to confront in its more than five-decades-long history.
That is, Jose will have to lead his party without any parliamentary positions at a time when the political front his party belongs to, is part of the government with an overwhelming majority. This will definitely test Jose’s leadership capability as he will have to control his senior colleagues who won the election and are likely to become ministers in the upcoming LDF Cabinet. While Roshy Augustine is a strong contender for the cabinet berth, KC(M) will also pitch for a second minister in N Jayaraj, who won from Kanjirappally.
“Since the existence of parties like KC(M) is based on power politics, holding the chairman post of party without being an MLA or MP will definitely create a tough challenge to Jose. His predecessor and KC(M) stalwart K M Mani had never experienced such a situation. Hence, Jose will have to be more tactical in controlling the internal politics of the KC(M),” said a political observer.
At the same time, KC(M)’s victory has opened a lot of opportunities for Jose in the LDF, if he can utilise the situation wisely. With KC(M) winning five seats, especially raising LDF’s quota in Kottayam district, the political experiment of the LDF yielded positive results.
Like in the previous local body elections, the LDF’s association with the KC(M), helped it make inroads into the Christian vote base in Central Travancore. Taking advantage of the situation, Jose can act as a bridge between the LDF and Christian community. Jose can emerge as a political leader to be reckoned with by wooing the remaining part of Christian voters to the LDF.
(With inputs from Kochi)