THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : At a time when the BJP is claiming they will achieve a hattrick of victories in the general elections, the Congress is in a do or die situation. Desperate to win as many seats as possible, the party is looking at the southern states to bolster their chances. And hence, the onus has fallen on the Congress state leadership to ensure that they win all 20 Lok Sabha seats.
In all likelihood, Congress national general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and state president K Sudhakaran will contest from Alappuzha and Kannur, hoping to retain and defend the seats, respectively.
The 61-year-old Venugopal, currently representing the upper house of Parliament from Rajasthan, had always been dilly-dallying on the decision of his candidature from Alappuzha. But ever since he moved to New Delhi and became the organisational head, he emerged as the numero uno in the Congress. A section of the party’s state leaders are keen to see him returning to state politics in the 2026 assembly elections, when his Rajya Sabha term is also slated to end. But it looks like there is a change of plan on his political trajectory.
A senior Congress leader told TNIE that the national leadership is banking on formidable leaders like Venugopal to wrest the seat from CPM’s A M Ariff. “The stage is being set for Venugopal’s return to electoral politics from the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency. With each seat precious for the Congress, the national leadership is looking south to win as many seats as possible,” the senior leader said.
Prior to leaving for the US for medical treatment, Sudhakaran had informed the Congress leadership that he was not interested in defending his Kannur LS seat. But ever since he received a clean chit to his health, a rejuvenated Sudhakaran has emerged from his own shadows and has been at his vociferous best during the course of his statewide march, Samaragni. Several hopefuls, including his trusted lieutenant, K Jayanth, had set their eyes on the Kannur seat.
“When the national leadership is eager to see Sudhakaran defending his seat after Samaragni’s stellar show of strength in Kannur a few days ago, the onus has fallen on him. The party will soon ask him to contest from Kannur,” said a party source.
Meanwhile, confusion continues over the candidature of incumbent Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh. It is reliably learnt that Kodikunnil is eyeing the state president post, given the expectation that Sudhakaran will be contesting from Kannur. Eventually, Kodikunnil hopes to contest in the 2026 assembly elections, a source said.