THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress in Kerala is set to undergo a major revamp from the KPCC president level down to the DCC president level as part of an organisational restructuring exercise.
Though the new state president will be chosen through a separate organisational process, 14 new DCC presidents will be selected through an organisational restructuring campaign launched by the AICC leadership – ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’. The two processes are expected to begin in June.
The selection of the new KPCC president became necessary after the incumbent, Sunny Joseph, was inducted into the V D Satheesan cabinet. Along with him, two working presidents, A P Anil Kumar and P C Vishnunadh have also joined the cabinet leaving the third working president and MP Shafi Parambil with additional responsibilities. Besides, many KPCC office-bearers have also become ministers and MLAs.
The process to select the new party president will commence with the appointment of a central observer by the party high command.
“The observer is expected to hold consultations with all stakeholders before submitting its report to the Congress president,” said a KPCC office-bearer.
According to Congress leaders, half a dozen aspirants are in the fray for the KPCC president post. Though former UDF convenor Benny Behanan and Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha Kodikkunnil Suresh are the frontrunners for the post, Joseph Vazhakkan, Anto Antony MP and UDF convenor Adoor Prakash are also in the race.
The AICC has reportedly decided to avoid appointing MLAs and ministers to KPCC office-bearer posts as part of the reorganisation process. This is in view of the assurance given by the party high command to the leaders during the assembly election campaign that those who were denied tickets would be considered for various positions in the government and the party if the UDF came to power.
The high command has also decided that the new president should be appointed by consensus in view of the new power dynamics that emerged after V D Satheesan became the CM.
“Satheesan will have a say in the appointment of the new KPCC president. The party high command will also take his view seriously, as it wants to maintain an equilibrium between the government and the organisation. It is to be seen how his powerful opponents are going to react to this,” he added.
Meanwhile, party sources said the AICC is set to appoint the central observers across the state as part of the process of selecting new DCC presidents. AICC has launched its flagship programme, Sanghathan Srijan Abhiyan to strengthen and revamp the party’s grassroots organisation.
“The Congress president has already announced observers for four states – Maharashtra, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura,” said a leader. “Next in line is Kerala. Once the observers are appointed, they will start gathering feedback from party workers for the selection of DCC presidents,” he added.
The party is also expected to begin the allocation of board/corporation chairmanships from the first week of June. “The final picture will become clear once the allocation of board corporation posts is finalised,” said a Congress leader.
