Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal among others during a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. | Photo credit: ANI
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Friday embarked on breathtaking strategies and planning for the Kerala assembly elections. AICC National President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi held a detailed round table discussion in New Delhi with Congress leaders from Kerala, including Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Sunny Joseph, MLA; Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan; United Democratic Front (UDF) convener Adoor Prakash; and senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and MM Hassan.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Shashi Tharoor, who is in Kozhikode for the Kerala Literature Festival, told reporters that he would attend the meeting remotely and dismissed reports of a rift with the national leadership. A Congress insider said several issues are on the table, including the first phase of candidate selection. The meeting, he said, weighed the electoral pros and cons of whether sitting MPs should contest the parliamentary polls, an issue that dogged the KPCC in the election year, leading to conflicting public statements by leaders.
He said the meeting would lay the groundwork for involving allies, especially the Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress parties, in seat-sharing, including swapping of constituencies, especially in central and north Kerala. According to party sources, the KPCC is overwhelmingly of the view that sitting MLAs should contest again, except for a few individual leaders who may seek exemption on health and age grounds. They said the Congress could contest more seats and leaders from the younger age group, including the Youth Congress, are likely to be in the fray to regain lost political ground.
At SNDP Yogam, NSS
The meeting was held against the backdrop of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) and the Nair Service Society (NSS) casting a dim view of the Congress’s electoral prospects, despite the opposition’s relatively good showing in local opinion polls. According to Congress sources, the AICC appeared ready to mend fences with the two main Hindu social organizations that defected from the UDF, accusing the leadership of belittling the leaders of the majority community to win over fundamentalist votes. The roundtable also discussed the potential political trajectory of NSS-SNDP Yogam’s “newfound unity on shared interests” and who would benefit electorally from the compact.
A KPCC insider said he was not sure if the Sabarimala gold theft was discussed in the meeting, which put the previous Congress-led Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administrations on the defensive.
Published – 23 Jan 2026 20:24 IST
