THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: He has emerged as a power centre within the Congress and UDF with the Thrikkakkara bypoll win, but Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan is playing it down. At the airport here, where he was accorded a welcome by party workers for the win in Thrikkakara, Satheesan asked the party workers to remove all flex boards that projected him as ‘leader’ and ‘captain’.
Satheesan said he was not keen to fall into the trap of being hailed as ‘leader’ or ‘captain’. “In Kerala, the Congress has just one Leader — K Karunakaran. I cannot be his replacement,” he said. He termed the victory in Thrikkakara a collective one. “The credit for the win belongs to everyone in the party. My sole responsibility was to coordinate. Such ‘captain’ and ‘leader’ terms are not going to help Congress’ growth,” he said. Satheesan termed the Thrikkakara win, especially after a series of harrowing electoral defeats, as a much-needed booster to enhance the self-confidence of every UDF worker.
He said the Congress has been able to build a strong second-rung leadership. “Giving more representation to women has created a favourable response towards both the Congress and the UDF,” he said.Coming down heavily on the chief minister, Satheesan said he has the responsibility to explain his party’s electoral loss before the masses.
The ‘Captain-Leader’ debate began in the Congress in the wake of the Thrikkakara win. It was Congress MP Hibi Eden who first came up with a social media post terming Satheesan ‘captain original’. In fact, it was aimed as a snub at Pinarayi, who is called ‘captain’ by his party cadre. Later, the Congress workers lapped it up with flex boards hailing Satheesan as ‘captain’. However, the sudden hero-worship of Satheesan has reportedly not gone down well with some senior leaders.