Congress Grapples With Deepening Internal Turmoil Ahead of Local Body Elections

Idukki/ Alappuzha: Factionalism continues to deepen within the KPCC, with a series of open rebellions, resignations, and parallel moves surfacing across Alappuzha and Idukki districts in the run-up to the local body elections.

In Alappuzha municipality’s Punnamada ward, the entire Congress ward committee resigned en masse after the party leadership bypassed its recommendation and brought in an external candidate.

Of the 23 members who attended the meeting, 22 had proposed K E George (Joshi Kannerath) as the official nominee. However, the party declared K A Sabu, someone from outside the ward, as its candidate, ignoring complaints raised by the local unit.

A strongly worded resignation letter signed by 27 members, including office- bearers, has been sent to K C Venugopal, as well as mandalam, block, and KPCC leaderships. Simultaneously, in another display of internal dissent, Alappuzha DCC General Secretary Raju Thannikkal resigned from his post after being denied the party ticket. Thannikkal, a two -time municipal councillor, had demanded that he be allowed to contest from Kalappura ward.

The issue escalated during the ward convention, where he and his supporters were allegedly manhandled by rival factions. When the seat was allotted instead to Powerhouse mandalam president Benny Joseph, Thannikkal filed nomination papers as a rebel candidate and stepped down from his DCC post. The situation is no different in Kattappana municipality in Idukki, where the UDF, and particularly the Congress, is battling five rebel candidates.

Former chairperson Beena Joby is among those defying the official list, contesting in ward after disagreements over seat allocation.

In wards 6, 17, 23, 31, and 33, senior Congress and UDF figures have turned rebels: Rinto Sebastian against Shiny Sunny Cherian, Maya Biju against K J Benny, Joby Stephen against Joy Anithottam, Beena Joby against Marykutty Joseph of Kerala Congress (Joseph), and Joseph Xavier against Siju Chakkummoottil.

A faction aligned with K C Venugopal had earlier protested what it termed a unilateral approach to seat distribution, receiving only two seats despite demanding six. The resignations, physical confrontations, rebel candidacies, and open defiance by long-time leaders underscore how factional divides within the KPCC remain far from resolved, and in many pockets, are visibly intensifying.