After Securing CM Post, Satheesan Moves to Tighten Grip Over Congress

Thiruvananthapuram: After securing the Chief Minister’s post, VD Satheesan is now moving to tighten his grip over the Congress party as well. Satheesan’s insistence on having a KPCC president acceptable to him is gaining ground in the party, after sidelining more than half a dozen leaders who had emerged through group-based competition.

During his meeting with Rahul Gandhi on Monday, Satheesan made it clear that the KPCC needs a full-time president. The move is aimed at ensuring that someone close to him is appointed to the post. The objective is also to sideline MPs and MLAs who are eyeing the KPCC president’s position. Names being considered by KC Venugopal for the post are also likely to be pushed aside. Satheesan believes the high command will not be willing to bring in someone he does not favour as KPCC president.

The delay in the KPCC reorganisation is part of the ongoing tussle between Chief Minister VD Satheesan and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal. While Venugopal, who lost the Chief Minister’s post, is attempting to bring his nominee to the helm of the KPCC, Satheesan is also working behind the scenes to install someone close to him in the party leadership.

MPs including Kodikunnil Suresh, Benny Behanan, Anto Antony, Shafi Parambil and Adoor Prakash are among those waiting for an opportunity to become KPCC president. Some MLAs, including Mathew Kuzhalnadan, are also in contention.

Satheesan, who had bowed before a portrait of RSS ideologue MS Golwalkar, is seeking a KPCC president who would be pliable enough to implement RSS agendas, including PM SHRI. With senior leaders being systematically sidelined, Satheesan is calculating that even if someone from the opposing camp becomes KPCC president, that person would not pose a threat to him.

Meanwhile, dissent is growing within the Congress against what is being described as Satheesan’s authoritarian tendencies. While insisting that the party should have a single-post policy, criticism has already emerged that Satheesan is using his loyalists to bring all positions under his control.