THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The friction between Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and state Congress chief K Sudhakaran, which was on display during a press conference after the Puthuppally by-election victory, is just the tip of the iceberg. The win came at a price for Satheesan, who spearheaded the campaign. According to Congress and UDF leaders, he gave up on a golden opportunity to break away from the shadow of Sudhakaran and national general secretary K C Venugopal.
This is the first time in a while that a Congress parliamentary party leader has played second fiddle to a state president. When K Karunakaran was parliamentary party leader and A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi were KPCC presidents, the former held the upper hand. In the same vein, Satheesan should have been calling the shots.
It was a similar equation during dispensations that involved Antony, Thennala Balakrishna Pillai and K Muraleedharan; Oommen Chandy and Chennithala; and Chennithala, M M Hassan and Mullappally Ramachandran. However, when Satheesan was handpicked by the high command, with the backing of Venugopal, against the will of majority of MLAs, he seemed destined to be overshadowed by a veteran like Sudhakaran.
In Puthuppally, the party president had given Satheesan a free hand to run the campaign. This was due to the ongoing Parliament session, said party sources. Those close to Sudhakaran say he also assigned responsibilities to party office-bearers of each panchayat. At the insistence of Sudhakaran, Venugopal also held a meeting of state MPs, who were then assigned panchayats. Sudhakaran, who was out of the state for most of the campaign, was forced to limit his role to the final leg. Health issues and the ED case also forced him to stay away. “Satheesan should have realised the bypoll win was only because of Oommen Chandy,” said a senior leader.
Art of the possible
Chennithala, a senior leader who can fill the vacuum left by Oommen Chandy, has been playing it safe. At the same time, Venugopal has been widening his circle with overtures to both ‘A’ and ‘I’ group leaders. His tactical errors has Satheesan, on the other hand, licking his wounds within and without the assembly.
“Venugopal is gradually broadening his influence in both groups,” a senior UDF leader said. “Satheesan, who is now close to Venugopal, has to his credit two by-election victories. But how far can he go? Karunakaran lost the CM post not only because of the ISRO espionage case. The loss of the party in the Ottapalam parliament and Guruvayur assembly by-elections weighed against him. Antony resigned after the UDF lost 18 seats in the 2004 parliament election. The high command could not touch OC because the party won the Piravom, Aruvikkara and Neyyattinkara by-elections. Ramesh had to leave because of the 2021 assembly election result,” he stressed.
The ‘A’ group and some UDF partners have already questioned Satheesan’s style of functioning. The faction was unhappy with the parliamentary party’s decision to take up the CBI report on the solar scam as an adjournment motion on the day Chandy Oommen took oath. Many are believed to be disappointed with opposition front’s handling of floor management in the House.