Though the Congress presence is not felt in the State-wide agitation against the CPI(M)-led Kerala Government over the gold smuggling scam and LIFE Mission corruption charges, the Grand Old Party is busy with warming up for a two-day mega event to be held at Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday and Saturday respectively. The fact that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are addressing the virtual rallies live from New Delhi shows the importance of being Oommen Chandi, the face of the party in Kerala.
Congressmen and cadre in the State are getting ready to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandi’s membership of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. Chandi (75) is the only law maker in the Kerala who has been elected to the assembly in all elections he had contested since 1970. Though he was playing a subdued role in politics after the 2016 election in which the Congress-led UDF was defeated by a huge margin by the CPI(M)-led Left Front, the Congress staged an impressive return in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Kerala.
The Congress High Command in a major reorganization of the party, inducted Oommen Chandi as a member of the Congress Working Committee making it clear that who would be the chief ministerial candidate of the party in the 2021 election. It has its own explanations. “Chandi is always the man of the hour to whom the High Command turns to in emergency times. He has the capability to disarm even hardcore critics of the party with that disarming smile. Moreover he has only obsession and that is Kerala politics,” said Sam Rajappa, a long time observer of Kerala’s politics.
Though belonging to the Christian community, Chandi is acceptable to all including Hindus in the State and that makes him the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post. “All allegations levelled against him by the CPI(M) prior to the 2016 have fallen flat. The Hindus have understood that had the Government of Kerala followed the affidavit filed by his Government in the Sabarimala Case, the unpleasant events that took place in the holy shrine would not have been there. The CPI(M) government took back that affidavit and filed another one which earned it the wrath of the people,” said P Rajan, former editor of Mathrubhumi and venerated commentator.
In a politically surcharged State like Kerala, it is impossible to any person to win successfully and successively from a single constituency all elections. But Oommen Chandi, popularly known as Kunjoonju is different and he is here to stay for some more years, say friends and foes alike.
