What the Congress can learn from its success in Kerala

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections sprang many surprises but the big story was the complete decimation of the Indian National Congress in most states, with the exception of Kerala. The Congress now finds itself in a situation where it has to undertake crucial reorganisation and revamping at multiple levels.

What are the lessons Kerala can offer to the Congress nationally? For the answer to this question, we must take a look at the practices and the factors responsible for the party’s relatively good condition in Kerala. These factors have contributed to its continued success electorally, which have differentiated the state unit from others in the rest of the country.

Coalition politics

The first state government in Kerala was formed by the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) and this turned out to be the last single-party government in Kerala. The CPI government led by EMS Namboodiripad, with Joseph Mundassery as the education minister, introduced the Education Bill containing radical provisions to reform the education system. The move triggered the anger of the Syrian Christian community, especially the Catholic Church, which controlled a large number of educational institutes. The Congress forged an alliance with the Catholic Church, the Nair Service Society, other Opposition parties and launched a statewide coordinated agitation against the government termed 'Vimochana Samaram' (Liberation Struggle) resulting in the dismissal of the CPI government by the Centre.

In the subsequent elections in 1960, a coalition government led by the Congress came to power and this was despite about a four per cent increase in the CPI’s vote share. The Congress stopped its arch-rival from coming back to power by forging alliances with various caste and community organisations, spanning three separate religious groups and several anti-Communist parties, all of whom fought on a united platform to defeat the CPI. The Praja Socialist Party, a junior partner in the coalition, was offered the chief ministership which exemplified the extent to which the Congress was ready to bend in order to secure the alliance. The Congress in Kerala, even at the peak of its national popularity, had to knit these alliances with various organisations to come to power.

The prevalence of coalition politics in the small state almost from the time of inception is due to the diversity of demographics, social-political awareness cutting across the caste and class spectrum and long-rooted caste divisions.

In 1967 state elections, the Congress was reduced to just nine seats in the Kerala Assembly after contesting alone. Congress’ Kerala unit recognised the bitter reality that it won’t be able to beat the Communist parties in the elections in the long run without a permanent alliance and tied up with groups with whom they allied with earlier in 1960. This evolved into what is today seen as the United Democratic Front (UDF).

The UDF, which has long been in existence in Kerala, has done well to sustain itself as a rainbow coalition with the support of different caste, religious and social groups opposed to the Left bloc, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM).

Ear to the ground

The Congress in Kerala has had its ear to the ground, an ability to perceive the emotion of the society and cater to that directly. The mishaps the party suffered in Kerala between 2010-16, which led to the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state and the rout of the Congress in the 2016 assembly polls can be blamed on the arrogance, factionalism and certain missteps, but the party seems to have done a course correction on that front. This was in evidence in the Sabarimala issue when the Congress swiftly perceived anger against the verdict from sections of the Hindu community and was in fact was quicker than the BJP to oppose the verdict officially even differing with the Congress party line at the Center, forcing party chief Rahul Gandhi to concede eventually and acknowledge the position of the party in the state.

Experts and commentators are still debating on how much impact the Sabarimala verdict and the subsequent issues played in deciding the voting pattern but it can’t be denied that the response from the Congress reaffirmed the faith of its core electorate while attracting political neutrals. The Congress party during the course of the Sabarimala agitation also stayed away from unnecessary drama and communalisation which soothed the fears of all sections of the society and the party succeeded in projecting an “empathetic’’ image because in Kerala both the CPIM and the BJP were doing the opposite. The reason why the party got its messaging correct is because it accurately perceived the issues and fears of the electorate and tweaked its campaign to that effect.

Popular leaders

While the Congress is controlled and dominated by political dynasties at both the Centre and in many of the states, the Kerala unit does not share this character.

The Kerala electorate is politically aware and won’t accept dynastic appointees if they can’t perform to the expected level. This leaves space for merit or political savvy in the organization.

Another reason is high levels of intra-party competition. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is often characterised as faction-ridden. While it is true that there is a degree of selfishness and unbridled ambition at play here – leaders are constantly wary of scheming and backroom plotting by fellow party leaders – but this also ensures that the party doesn’t come under the control of one man, family or community.

For example, K Karunakaran became a powerful and popular leader of the Congress in Kerala in the 1970s and remained so for decades. He was challenged by the ‘Antony faction’ consisting of Oommen Chandy, MM Hassan and AK Antony himself. This faction is believed to have plotted the removal of Karunakaran from the CM’s post after the ISRO Spy Scandal case in 1994. The internal churning and conflicts did affect the party in the short term but in the long run, it ensured a healthy level of internal competition, less sycophancy and timely changes in leadership.

As a result, the KPCC functions more as a collective unit rather than as a ‘durbar’, like in Delhi. This ensures that a lot of quality leaders come up through the party ranks and can perceive the sentiments of the people and connect with their community.

Autonomy in functioning

The KPCC enjoys a high level of autonomy compared to other state units. Some reasons contributing to it are the distance factor, language and cultural disconnect with the Central unit of the party. However, there is another factor which is that the members in the Kerala unit are very loyal to the Congress ‘High Command’, or the Gandhi family. Despite being faction-ridden with plenty of internal frictions and disputes, the KPCC as a whole has been unwavering loyalty towards the Gandhi Family and the Central leadership at all times. Added to this is the fact that the electorate in Kerala doesn’t tolerate party defectors which serves as a further disincentive to shifting parties.

This means the Congress’ central command isn’t forced to interfere in the politics of the party in the state and this affords the KPCC a good degree of independence.

During the Sabarimala strife, the KPCC was free to formulate a stand and a plan of action despite being at odds with the line of taken by Delhi. Rahul Gandhi, however, had to concede and recognise the stand taken by the KPCC on the issue. Rahul’s decision to contest from Wayanad can also be seen in this light with the Congress president being sufficiently assured of the unwavering support of all the factions and also their longtime regional ally, the Indian Union Muslim league.

There is a lot of subtext and historical context for the features described above and some of them are specific or unique to Kerala making it hard to replicate it everywhere. However, since the party is reeling from a massive electoral failure countrywide and Kerala is one of the few exceptions, it is imperative to examine the factors that worked for the party in Kerala.

(Aaron Nedumparambill is an aspiring writer who takes a keen interest in current affairs)