The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has announced a core committee to manage the election campaign in Kerala. Former Chief Minister AK Antony is the senior-most member of the panel.
In a move, the AICC tried to head off possible leadership rifts during the crucial election year by forming a collective of seniors and youths to oversee the 2025 local body polls and the 2026 assembly elections.
Moreover, some party insiders saw the AICC’s decision as a step to prevent self-defeating lobbying among top functionaries for a future Congress chief minister after the assembly elections.
It also hopes to achieve top-level consensus in selecting candidates for local bodies to prevent rebellions, factionalism and potential rebel candidates. A Congress insider said the AICC also wants to prevent such ward-level disputes from metastasizing into factional differences at the assembly constituency level in 2026.
The core committee will replace other organizational panels, including the “oversized” political affairs committee recently revamped by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). In particular, the committee caters to influential faction leaders and ensures the representation of women and youth.
Summoner
The convener is Deepa Dasmuns, AICC General Secretary in charge of Kerala. Members include sunny sunny Joseph, VD Sathesan, KC Vengopal, Ramesh Chenniital, Shashi thoroor, K. Sudhakan, Kodikunil Suresh, K. Muraleedharan, VM at once, Mulppally, Ador Prakash, Ador Prakash, Ap Anil Kumar and MM Hassan. PC Vishnunath, Shafi Parambi and Shafiimool Usman are relatively young members of the committee.
The AICC on Tuesday summoned the KPCC leadership to Delhi for deliberations. It found that loaded, unwieldy and elephantine caucuses—often a recipe for infighting—would bog down the Congressional election machinery. Therefore, it allowed the core committee to respond quickly to the needs of the election era while simultaneously signaling unity of purpose and collective leadership to the rank and file.
Published – 31 Oct 2025 22:03 IST
