Riding high on Nilambur, Congress plots comeback in its heartland

Buoyed by a string of bypoll victories, the Congress is gearing up to reclaim its lost ground in central Travancore, once its undisputed stronghold.

What has breathed a new life into the party’s rank and file is particularly the win at Nilambur, the voter profile of which closely mirrors that of several key constituencies across central Travancore. The Congress sees this as a golden opportunity to reforge old alliances in the region, which starts with the Catholic Church.

With local body polls looming and the Assembly elections on the horizon, the party has already begun efforts to rebuild its communication channels with the Church leadership.

Senior Congress leader K.C. Joseph confirmed the outreach. “We are in constant dialogue with the Church. All their key concerns like farm distress and human-wildlife conflict have been incorporated into our political agenda,” he said.

The appointment of Sunny Joseph as the KPCC president has already given a push to this initiative. A Catholic leader with deep roots in the region, Mr.Joseph is seen as the Congress’s trump card to restore ties with the Church hierarchy across dioceses and undo the damage of past several years. Adding to this is Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan’s success as an election manager, an achievement likely to boost the Church’s confidence in both him and the party.

The party’s rapport with the Church had hit rock bottom after it struggled to balance its traditional Christian base with a growing Muslim voter bloc, particularly during politically sensitive debates like ‘love jihad’. That divide, insiders say, is now being urgently addressed.

Meanwhile, the Nilambur win also appears to have escalated internal rumblings over the coalition arithmetic, particularly with the Kerala Congress. A section of Congress leaders have long argued that the party has long ceded too much ground in central Travancore.

“If you take the MC Road, for instance, Kerala Congress is contesting five seats from Kaduthuruthy to Thiruvalla, leaving Congress with only Kottayam. That’s disproportionate to their actual base,” said a senior leader. “There’s growing demand to reclaim at least a couple of those seats,” he said.

A strong performance in central Travancore is essential to the Congress-led UDF’s larger game plan to retake power in Kerala. Currently, the coalition holds just 6 of the region’s 21 Assembly seats. Of this, the Congress accounts for only three seats, namely Muvattupuzha, Kottayam and Puthuppally.

The picture is bleaker in Idukki, where the party has drawn a blank for three consecutive terms. In Pathanamthitta, its lone remaining seat slipped away in 2019.