KOCHI: While the Congress state leadership admitted that there was a lack of vigil from their part in achieving the ambitious target of enrolling 50 lakh members, there is a growing resentment in the party that the recently formed new ‘axis’ of AICC general secretary K C Venugopal-Opposition Leader V D Satheesan has torpedoed the drive. The reason: to put party state chief K Sudhakaran, who spearheaded the campaign, in bad light.
Sudhakaran had claimed that he would achieve the target by April 15, but he could add only 12.96 lakh (12,96,041) taking Kerala far behind other states where the grand old party has a foothold. Insiders told TNIE that Satheesan, who always claims that he is not affiliated to any group, was against the list of DCC office-bearers prepared by Sudhakaran.
The state unit president was of the view that the issues that erupted following the appointment of KPCC functionaries and DCC presidents could be resolved with the appointment of DCC office-bearers. For this, Sudhakaran even considered leaders from the factions headed by former chief minister Oommen Chandy and former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.
However, Venugopal and Satheesan sabotaged the move by lodging complaints through the MPs from the state against the rejig before the high command. It is learnt that Sudhakaran rejected the demand of omitting the names of the leaders from the Chandy and Ramesh factions by including many persons who are loyal to Satheesan and Venugopal.
A senior leader said the low numbers in Kerala were because of the infighting within the party.
“The party has failed to get its workers to participate actively in the membership drive as the leaders who wish to come to DCC posts remained inactive in the campaign,” he said. Though Sudhakaran held talks with the leader of opposition to sort out the issue, it had not yielded any results except in Kasaragod and Wayanad districts.
Ernakulam district, where the party had five lakh members enrolled in the previous drive, could add only 1,25,043 members this time. The party had done poorly in the Thrikkakara assembly constituency as it could add only 4,257 members. In Paravoor, the constituency represented by Satheesan, the party added only 5,361 members.
Senior leaders have warned that the Congress in Kerala will have to pay a heavy price if the differences at the leadership level are not resolved soon. Sources close to Sudhakaran maintained that the KPCC president’s views were not taken into account in the final selection of the Rajya Sabha seat candidate.
The party leaders also said the digital membership drive alone would not achieve the target of enrolling 50 lakh members.