What is of paramount importance is that the no-holds-barred criticism has come from A K Antony, who is considered the last word on Congress politics in Kerala. It must be noted that the Congress High Command also goes by the advice of Antony when it comes to taking decisions on matters related to the Congress in the State.

A close look at Antony’s stringent criticism is in order to put things in proper perspective. The senior leader from Kerala has, in an uncharacteristically aggressive tone, demanded a generational change in the state leadership and infusion of fresh blood at the top by way of remedial action.

What has excited Antony’s anger is the stubborn refusal of the state leadership to learn from past mistakes and aim at organizational revamp.

That there has been no corrective action so far is bad enough. What is worse is that the factional feud, which has been the bane of the party resulting in a severe drubbing in the state assembly elections, continues to bleed the party.

That former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and former Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala who head the two dominant groups in the party, the A group and the I group respectively, have been persisting in their group rivalries despite several warnings from the high command speaks of the depth to which the malady has afflicted the Congress’s body politic.

It is not difficult to see why Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V M Sudheeran, the high command’s chosen instrument to end groupism in the state unit of the Congress has failed to do the needful. It is a measure of the High Command’s helplessness that neither Chandy nor Chennithala has so far refused to openly declare that they would stop indulging in groupism!

It is against this murky backdrop that Antony’s blunt talk has to be viewed.

It is an undeniable fact that the refusal to learn from past mistakes has caused severe erosion in the party’s vote strength, Antony pointed out, adding that the beneficiary has been the BJP-led Sangh parivar forces which are growing fast to the worry of the secular forces in the state. This is another reason why the Congress leaders must stop quarrelling among themselves, Anton y asserted. Refusal to do so would result in the Sangh parivar chipping away at the Congress’s vote base with greater force than is the case at present.

The Congress has its task cut out, Antony noted, adding that the party in Kerala is faced with twin danger: the BJP which is aiming at a Congress-free India and the CPI(M), which is hell bent jupon destabilizing the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF).

Much water has flowed down the Periyar. But it is still not too late for the party to initiate damage control measures. As a first step, the party must forge total unity, immediately signalling an end to the debilitating groupism. This is the crux of the Antony message. Of equal importance is the need to shed arrogance and its big brother attitude towards the UDF allies. It may be noted that smaller allies of the Congress like the JD(U) and the RSP are resentful of the Congress’s step-motherly attitude. If the Congress really wants the UDF to survive the severe electoral setback it has suffered, it must be more accommodative of the interests of its allies. Otherwise, the front would suffer further disintegration with more parties leaving it a la the Kerala Congress(M).

Will the Congress mend its factional ways? Or will it continue to bicker and learn nothing like the infamous Bourbons of Europe? Time alone will tell. (IPA Service)