THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite his efforts to emerge as a consensus champion of various communities, Ramesh Chennithala is treading a cautious path.
The senior Congress leader’s attempts at staging a comeback into active politics gained momentum after a slew of developments, starting with SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan hailing him as an eligible candidate for the CM post, to the truce between him and the NSS, and the invitations extended by various Muslim organisations.
But, Chennithala’s tight-rope walk seems to have suffered a setback with the SNDP annoyed at the way the Congress Working Committee (CWC) member presented himself on Thursday at the NSS headquarters for the Mannam jayanthi celebrations. “G Sukumaran Nair described Ramesh as the son of the NSS,” SNDP Yogam general secretary Natesan told TNIE.
“So the question now arises: to whom will ‘this son’ show his loyalty? Will it be towards the NSS and Sukumaran Nair and not towards the people? The same Chennithala, who once proclaimed his secular credentials, bowed before Sukumaran Nair,” he said.
Given that Haripad constituency has a large number of Ezhava community voters, the deep-rooted animosity between the SNDP and NSS chiefs could pose a challenge to Chennithala retaining the seat in next year’s assembly election. “There is growing criticism in the Ezhava community of Chennithala’s silence after Sukumaran Nair defamed the head of Sivagiri Mutt on Thursday,” political analyst Ajith Sreenivasan told TNIE.
“Chennithala was present when Sukumaran Nair spoke, but he did not show the courage to voice opposition to the remarks. If Ezhava votes consolidate against the UDF in south Kerala, it would be a major jolt for the Congress. The front lost a good chunk of the community’s vote in the 2021 assembly election,” he said.
Having been sidelined from state politics for a long time, every political development has come as a blessing for Chennithala. The larger political picture, which works in favour of Chennithala, is that the state Congress is now devoid of a legacy leader of the likes of K Karunakaran, A K Antony and Oommen Chandy.
With senior leaders like Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K Muraleedharan continuing to remain neglected, Chennithala is the only party leader worth his salt who can make legacy claims. In an obvious move not to ruffle feathers, Chennithala was on Thursday clever enough to brand the NSS as a secular outfit.
In the face of intense competition, a key factor determining the leadership race could be the allies one cultivates. “In a situation where BJP is going all out to improve its performance in the assembly election, Chennithala would become more acceptable. However, the way the Ezhava community thinks could prove to be detrimental,” a senior Congress leader said.
“The perceived arrogance of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has also come as a blessing for Chennithala. He can easily fit into the position. The assembly election is next year and anything can happen before that. It is up to Chennithala to decide whether he wants to rush forward. There are more troublemakers than good samaritans in the state Congress,” he said.
