Congress general secretary K C Venugopal.
Credit: PTI Photo
Having scripted a hat-trick of victories in the Kerala assembly since 1996 and winning the Lok Sabha elections twice – in 2009 and 2014, Congress leader K C Venugopal is not at all new to the south Kerala constituency of Alappuzha.
However, as he returns to the electoral fray after a decade with the mission of winning back the seat from the CPM, his profile has changed for good.
KC, as he is popularly known, was only a former minister when he last contested in 2014 from Alappuzha. Now, he is AICC general secretary in charge of the organisation, Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan and more importantly, a close confidant of Congress’s top leader Rahul Gandhi. Moreover, he is one of the most influential leaders of the party in Delhi.
For these reasons, the return of KC to Alappuzha has visibly given a boost to the Congress camps. The jubilant mood of party workers during his campaign meetings says it all. KC’s campaign meetings are running behind schedule by hours owing to the massive receptions at each point.
The CPM seems to have felt the heat as it is making all out efforts to retain the lone seat that actually saved its face during Congress’s sweep in Kerala in 2019. The CPM’s top leaders including former national general secretary Prakash Karat have come all the way to the constituency to campaign for sitting MP A M Arif.
Apart from making general criticisms against the Congress, the CPM is attacking KC for risking his Rajya Sabha (RS) seat as the Congress did not have the numbers now to win a seat to RS from Rajasthan again. To avoid the attack from backfiring, the CPM is also exuding confidence that the Congress won’t lose the RS seat to BJP as they are certain of KC’s defeat to Arif.
Infights in the CPM’s Alappuzha unit too poses a threat to Arif apart from the anti-incumbency against the CPM government in Kerala, which is very well reflected at the grassroots, especially over social welfare pension dues.
BJP’s decision to field senior woman leader Shobha Surendran is widely interpreted as an attempt to sideline her by denying the Attingal seat in Thiruvananthapuram where she had put up a good fight in 2019.
But, the firebrand leader seems to be in no mood to give up in Alappuzha too. She is trying to make the contest a triangular fight not just with her fierce campaign, but also by playing the emotional card by accusing vested interest groups of trying to tarnish her image.
Known for its backwaters, Alappuzha has often seen the CPM/CPI and Congress winning the LS polls alternately.