Cong top brass discuss strategy with Kerala party leaders

New Delhi, Feb 28 (PTI) Top brass of the Congress along with party leaders from Kerala on Friday held a brainstorming session to discuss a strategy and the way forward ahead of next year’s assembly elections, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge asserting that the people will defeat the “oppressive” and “communal” fronts in the state.

The steps to be taken for strengthening the organisation and preparations for the assembly elections to be held next year were also discussed during the meeting, sources said.

“Change is inevitable in Kerala. Congress has built the development paradigm and welfare model of Kerala, and we will do everything possible to bring our UDF to power. Next year, people will defeat both the oppressive and communal fronts in the state,” Kharge said in a post on X.

“We held a meeting of Kerala Congress leaders where we deliberated on our political strategy and the future of the state,” he also said.

Besides Kharge, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kerala Congress chief K Sudhakaran and CLP leader in Kerala assembly V D Satheesan, and AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi were present at the meeting.

Senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala, party’s chief whip and MP K Suresh, besides MP Shashi Tharoor and Kerala Mahila Congress president and MP Jebi Mather also participated in the deliberations.

The meeting with senior leaders from Kerala comes amid a row over Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor’s recent article in a newspaper that drew criticism from some party leaders over his “praise” of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state for boosting the investment climate.

Tharoor has also hit out at the media for ‘misrepresenting’ his remarks made in Malayalam in a podcast.

The Congress is the main opposition party in Kerala and is seeking to wrest power from the LDF.

Assembly elections are set to take place in Kerala in March-April next year.

Tharoor’s article kicked off a political storm in the state a week ago, with the Congress questioning the basis of it while the CPI(M) welcomed it.

Later, Tharoor’s remarks in a Malayalam podcast were seen by many as pitching himself for leadership in the state, which did not go well and upset a section of the state leadership.