The unseemly spectacle of groups fighting each other, ignoring the interests of the party has left a trail of bitterness in its wake. In the process, the Congress has lost the initial edge it enjoyed in the run-up to the crucial Lok Sabha elections.

How strong is the grip of groups is evident from the fact that out of the 16 Congress candidates, 12 belong to the A and the I groups led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy and leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala respectively.

The six A group candidates who have managed to secure the ticket are: T. Siddique (Wayanad), M. K. Raghavan (Kozhikode), Dean Kuriakose (Idukki), Anto Antony (Pathanamthitta), Remya Haridas (Alathur) and Benny Behnan (Chalakkudy).

The I group loyalists who are in the fray are: K. Sudhakaran (Kannur), K. Muralidharan (Vadakara), VK. Sreekantan (Palakkad), Hibi Eden (Ernakulam), Shanimol Usman (Alappuzha) and Adoor Prakash (Attingal).

The Oommen Chandy faction scored a significant victory by wresting a traditional I group seat, Wayanad this time around. The ‘humiliation’ forced Chennithala, the I group chief to walk out of the meeting to discuss the candidates list.

The four candidates who do not belong to any group are: Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram), Kodikkunnil Suresh (Mavelikkara), TN Prathapan (Thrissur) and Rajmohan Unnithan (Kasaragod).

The unmistakable message emanating, therefore, from the candidate selection exercise is that grooupism is not only not dead it is alive and kicking vigorously, to the utter chagrin of senior Congress leaders in Kerala.

It also pitilessly exposes the helplessness of the Congress High Command, particularly party president Rahul Gandhi. Senior Congress leaders who prefer anonymity, aver that whatever advantage Rahul’s recent visit to the state gave the party has been squandered by the ugly manifestation of group rivalry. The most apt comment came from former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, V M Sudheeran who said that the factional feud has come as a big disappointment for the party’s rank and file. The sense of shock and disgust cannot but have an impact on the final result, he feels.

It must cause utmost concern to the Congress leadership that the finalization of candidates has not put an end to the display of factionalism. Rajmohan Unnithan, who is a surprise entry into the poll arena from Kasaragod, had to face an angry protest from the district DCC president himself. Only the intervention by the state leadership has stilled the infighting. But the bitterness has cast a big shadow on the prospects of Unnithan, who is otherwise a good candidate close to KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran.

Of course, the Congress leaders in the state are confident of winning all the 16 seats the party is contesting. Their sense of optimism stems from the findings of a few surveys conducted by TV channels which give the party as many as 16 seats! But the ground reality is different. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) will have to work really hard to give a good account of itself. But that is a tall ask, given the problems that plague the UDF constituents including the Congress. (IPA Service)